The Fenway Effect: A Cultural History of the Boston Red Sox

by David Krell

""The Fenway Effect" chronicles Boston Red Sox history and influence on business, culture, and the national pastime with engaging stories and anecdotes about the team's rich history beyond the field"--

Genres: Baseball, Nonfiction, Sports

280 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2024

Reviews

[Joshua Matthews · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not well organized, bad writer

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Boston Red Sox have a special place in the hearts of many New Englanders. Even those who don’t follow baseball closely seem to have their emotions tied together with the ups and downs of the area’s baseball team. This book by David Krell explores some of those connections and why the Red Sox are an important part of the fabric of Boston.

The book explores many different aspects of this grip that the team has on the culture of the area. Not only are the important baseball games covered (Game Six of the 1975 World Series, Game Six of the 1986 World Series, the “Boston Strong” game after the Boston Marathon bombing where David Ortiz gave his famous speech) but connections in the community and in other forms of entertainment are discussed as well. For the latter, examples of this is the television show “Cheers” and it’s main character Sam Malone who was a pitcher for the Red Sox before opening his bar and “Fever Pitch”, the romantic comedy with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon, who plays a die-hard Red Sox fan.

Something that is worth noting is that topics that originated from a source other than the Red Sox are also included and proper credit, when due, is given. The best example is one of my favorite topics in the book, the Jimmy Fund. For those who don’t know about it, it is a very popular fundraiser for research into children’s cancer. It was inspired by a child cancer patient in 1948 and the “Jimmy” name is fictional, although the real name of the child is later revealed. But while this charity is well-connected with the Red Sox and legendary Red Sox player Ted Williams often visited patients without publicity, this was not originally a Red Sox staple. “Jimmy” expressed a desire to see his favorite baseball player, Billy Southworth. At the time, he was the manager of the Boston Braves, so the Jimmy Fund was started by the Braves. There are other connections to the Braves and plenty of mentions of the other professional sports teams in Boston.

The fan experience should also be included in this book and it covers many different areas of the region and various ages. This was my only disappointment with the book, although not because they were included. Indeed, this book would be incomplete without hearing from people on why the Red Sox are so important. But reading them in one chapter as they were organized felt like they were staring to sound the same. Of course, they were not – and for other Red Sox fans, this might resonate more greatly, but for me, they just started to feel like the same story but told in different ways.

That doesn’t take away anything from the book as it is one that I thoroughly enjoyed and it is complete for everything from the Red Sox ballpark before Fenway Park (Huntington Avenue Grounds) to the iconic Citgo sign seen over the Green Monster, this book is one that any baseball fan who understands what the Red Sox mean to the New England region will want to read.

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a review copy. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...

[Brigitte · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was essentially just a data dump. My partner asked if it was the history of Fenway Park or the neighborhood, but alas that would've been more interesting than this.

[E Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes I rate a book as a 5 for reasons other than a thoughtful literary criticism (which is not my style). The Fenway Effect evoked many wonderful memories, from childhood through today. If you are a Red Sox fan there is a lot of history included, much I was not aware of. Sure, sometimes I thought it bogged down in a little too much detail that I was not especially interested in learning, but that's ok, you can always skim a little. The author captured quite well how sports can mean more than basic entertainment. I too experienced much of the angst of the decade upon decade of losing and heartbreak, and I am thankful to have been a part of the four recent World Series wins. Our dad took us to Fenway when back in Maine on summer vacations, and I have been blessed to pass the love for the Red Sox on to my kids and grandchildren, perhaps reaching at least for now the high point of going on the field itself with my oldest son just a few years ago. This is a very good read even if you are not a die-hard Sox fan, any fan of America's pastime can enjoy it. A thoughtful Christmas gift from one of our daughters who has caught the bug.

[Mr. Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can also see this review, along with others I have written, at my blog, Mr. Book's Book Reviews.

Thank you University of Nebraska Press for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Mr. Book just finished The Fenway Effect: A Cultural History Of The Boston Red Sox, by David Krell.

The best chapter of the book was about Cheers, while the chapters on race, the 1975 World Series and the Yankees-Red Sox were also highlights.

But, there were also chapters that couldn’t hold my interest at all, such as the Citgo Sign and music at Fenway. Overall, I’m going to give this one a B. Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a B equates to 3 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews

Mr. Book originally finished reading this on July 6, 2024.

Go to Mr. Book’s Book Reviews homepage

[Allison Langenburg · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like reading 1-5 page play-by-plays of baseball games, this book is for you. Krell skips the forest, and the trees, and hones in on the bark. I would have loved to learn more about why the Sox moved from Huntington Avenue Grounds to Fenway in 1912, and a lot less about who committed each play of a series of 5 games in 1967.
He also uses the book as a platform to chat about topics of interest to him, like tenuously related movies, or late night talk show hosts, skipping any contextualizing historical accounts in favor of poorly-worded strings of facts. And, the chapters repeat themselves.
Two stars not one because I started watching Cheers because of this book, which is good, and the chapters on the Citgo Sign and Yastrzemski were enjoyable.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I am a very dedicated baseball fan and deep into baseball history. Second, I am a loyal Red Sox fan. So, I had VERY high expectations in this book that it didn't quite live up to. Some sections were very interesting, like the history of the Royal Rooters, and the significance the Citgo sign that goes way beyond advertising. But Mr Krell goes off the rails with descriptions of games and players that have extremely little to do with the culture of the "Fenway Effect". There are much better books about the history of the Red Sox.

[Chris Butts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book on the cultural significance of the Boston Red Sox, and why they carry such relevance not only to New England, but to America in general.

[Hannah Ladner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is it a "cultural history"? or just a disjointed rambling account of player stats (with some interesting factoids scattered around)?

[Nicole Spirito · Rating 3 out of 5]

super fun and i obvi liked it bc im a sox fan <3 minus a couple stars because the author doesn’t know how to pronounce some of these places and names smh

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who considers themself a big Red Sox fan this book didn’t do much for me in terms of new information with exception of the chapter on Cheers. If you’re not a fan and want to know more this book covers the basics well and would be worth a read.