The Franchise: Boston Red Sox: A Curated History of the Red Sox

by Sean McAdam

In The Boston Red Sox , take a more profound and unique journey into the history of the team.

This thoughtful and engaging collection of essays captures the astute fans’ history of the franchise, going beyond well-worn narratives of yesteryear to uncover the less-discussed moments, decisions, people, and settings that fostered the team's iconic identity.
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Through wheeling and dealing, mythmaking and community building, explore where the organization has been, how it got to prominence in the modern major league landscape, and how it’ll continue to evolve and stay in contention for generations to come. 

Red Sox fans in the know will enjoy this personal, local, in-depth look at baseball history.

304 pages, Hardcover

Published July 12, 2022

Reviews

[Brodie Barrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great read and one I got through fairly quickly. Being a die-hard Red Sox fan, there wasn’t a ton of “new” in this book, but it was very well written and was compelling how Sean broke the chapters down. This is a great read for any baseball fan (maybe not a Yankees fan….) but for a team with as much history as the Red Sox, it should be read by all baseball fans. Reading it just roughly a week before pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training has me getting really excited for the baseball season!

[Zach Derosia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sean McAdam lays the history, facts and stats out in an engaging, not too droning way. I’m a diehard Sox fan and even I learned more than I expected too from this book. 4.4/5

[Jim Castine · Rating 5 out of 5]

whether you're a huge Sox fan, or a casual like myself, you're going to get something out of this book. it's written in a way that you could respond straight through, or bounce around to your favorite parts without missing a beat. if not educational, it's definitely nostalgic

[Alex Maslow · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, obviously better if you like the Red Sox. A lot of the info was repeated.

Did you know the Sox have a stake in NESN? Or that Terry Francona said the 2008 was the most talented he ever worked with? You will by the end, as these things are repeated several times throughout the book, sometimes verbatim.

The book also doesn't always explain its references. "Manny being Manny" and "Curt Schilling's Bloody Sock" are mentioned (multiple times) but never totally explained. Fine for me, I watched that team in high school. But makes me think there are aspects of the stories from before my time I missed because I don't already know the it.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reader has been a baseball fan for most of her life, but never of the Red Sox. The Braves, the Pirates, the Cubs, sure. But never the Red Sox. Never the American League. It was very interesting learning more about the team, though I found the book to be both too in-depth for a broad overview and too broad in parts to be an in-depth look at the team, which is rather common in non-fiction. Fun to read and very informative.

[SheMac · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and well-written history of the Red Sox, interesting because the story is told thematically and not linearly. The author does not go into great depth e.g. he does not explore the accusations that David Ortiz used PED's and his story takes place mostly after the '67 season. Still an enjoyable read.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

For forgetful Sox fans

Enjoyed as a Sox fan who started to forget the history! Or young whippersnappers who didn’t live through the pain.