Impossible Dreams: a Red Sox Collection

Brief Description: The Red Sox have long been the favorite subject of baseball's literati, more for what they haven't accomplished than for what they have. The mystery that shrouds this storied franchise has made for great copy for more than 100 years. But much of the very best writing on the team has often been obscured by romantic tales of legend and destiny, curses and conspiracies - until now. Turning solidly to the bedrock of traditional baseball writing, Glenn Stout has collected the best writing on the Sox that best tells the story of the franchise. A veritable sourcebook of more than a century of unforgettable baseball, Impossible Dreams is a book no self-respecting Sox fan can afford to miss. Table of Contents: Contents Part I: Glory Days 3 Oddities of Bleacher "Bugs." 1911. Ring Lardner 8 Rival Baseball Nine for Boston. 1901. Anonymous 11 Americans' First Game. 1901. W. S. Barnes, Jr.13 Collins's Men Lose. 1901. W. S. Barnes, Jr.18 Boston Americans Are the Champions of the World. 1903. T. H. Murnane 26 The Series That Almost Never Got Played. 1968. Frank Sleeper 32 The Irish in Baseball. 1904. Jimmy Collins 36 With Boston's World's Champion Ball Players--Way Down South. 1904. Frederic P. O'connell 41 My Greatest Day in Baseball. 1945. Cy Young, As Told to Francis J. Powers 44 Cy Young's Baseball Epigrams. 1904. Cy Young 46 Bright Red Stockings for Pilgrims While Playing at Home Next Year. 1907. Arthur Mcpherson 48 Fenway Park Is Formally Opened With Red Sox Win. 1912. Paul H. Shannon 54 Boston Now Supreme in Baseball World. 1912. T. H. Murnane 64 Ruth Leads Red Sox to Victory. 1914. T. H. Murnane 67 Strike! Strike! Strike! 1918. Nick Flatley 70 Red Sox Are Again World Champions. 1918. Paul H. Shannon 76 the Hero of the Series. 1918. F. C. Lane 82 Letter From George Whiteman. 1921. George Whiteman 84 The Fire Brand of the American League. 1919. F. C. Lane 95 New York Club Gives $125,000 for Battering Babe. 1920. Paul H. Shannon Part II: Yawkey's Way 105 Starch for the Red Sox. 1933. Bill Cunningham 115 Red Sox Owners Display Courage. 1933. Bill Cunningham 119 You Cannot Buy a Pennant! 1936. Daniel M. Daniel 122 What's the Matter With the Red Sox? 1946. Harold Kaese 134 Ted's Longest Homer Pierces Straw Hat on Head 450 Feet Away. 1946. Harold Kaese 136 Won It the Way Cronin Wanted. 1946. Al Hirshberg 140 Sox Locker Room Resembles a Wake. 1946. Joe Mckenney 144 U. S. Baseball Madness Pleasant to Behold in Face of World's Woes. 1948. Westbrook Pegler 148 What Was Matter With Our Red Sox? 1948. Harold Kaese 153 Sox Apollo. 1955. John Gillooly Part III: The Tryout 161 Sports Spurts. 1945. Wendell Smith 164 What about Trio Seeking Sox Tryout? 1945. Dave Egan 167 Three Race Baseball Candidates Impress Red Sox Coach Hugh Duffy. 1945. Doc Kountze 169 Red Sox Candidates Waiting to Hear from Management. 1945. Wendell Smith Part IV: Teddy Ballgame and the Knights of the Keyboard 175 Ted Williams Blasts Boston. 1940. Austen Lake 179 Ted Sets Back Baseball Clock. 1950. Gerry Hern 182 Colonel Sends Word to Williams: Why Wait Til '54 End?--quit Now. 1954. Dave (the Colonel) Egan 185 Williams Hits Homer, Covers Mouth Before 30,338. 1954. Bob Holbrook 189 Slight to Ted Disgraceful. 1957. Dave (the Colonel) Egan 192 The Kid's Last Game. 1961. Ed Linn Part V: Impossible Dreams and Nightmares 221 The Impossible Dream? 1967. Harold Kaese 224 Sox Barely Escape Screaming, Streaming Fans. 1967. Bud Collins 228 It's a Great Town for Baseball. 1967. Jimmy Breslin 232 The Impossible Dream. 1986. Jim Lonborg 238 Yaz Clutch Streak Has No Parallel. 1967. Harold Kaese 241 1967: The Flowering and Subsequent Deflowering of New England. 1967. Roger Angell 263 A Postcard from My Brother. 1992. Steve Buckley 269 Opening Day at Fenway. 1971. George Kimball 275 Tibialibus Rubris XV, Eboracum Novum V. 1973. George Frazier 280 Fisk's Home Run in 12th Beats Reds, 7-6. 1975. Peter Gammons 284 The Best Game Ever! 1975. Ray Fitzgerald 287 To Bill Lee. 1976. Tom Clark 295 The Boston Massacre. 1978. Peter Gammons 302 Gloomsville. 1978. Tim Horgan 305 The Confessions of a Rookie in Pearls. 1980. Marie Brenner 320 Rapt by the Radio. 1986. John Updike 325 Buckner's Story Is Painfully Familiar. 1986. Leigh Montville 328 Game 6. 1987. Peter Gammons 341 Babe Ruth Curse Strikes Again. 1986. George Vecsey 344 The Mets Take It, 8-5. 1986. Dan Shaughnessy 347 A Brother's Keeper. 1989. Mike Lupica Part VI: Later Innings 357 Blowing 'Em Away. 1998. Charles P. Pierce 364 Batter Up. 1999. Molly O'neill 372 Observers Still Awestruck. 1999. Bob Ryan 375 Time Has Come for Him to Own Up. 2001. Dan Shaughnessy 378 Sox On Cusp of Being Freed. 2001. Bill Ballou 381 Duke's Last Hurrah? 2001. Tony Massarotti 385 Looking for Ted Williams. 2002. Glenn Stout 389 Credits and Permissions 391 IndexPublisher Marketing: From the series editor of The Best American Sports Writing and coauthor of Red Sox Century comes every Boston fan's dream--100 years' worth of the best writing on the Red Sox. Review Citations:

Booklist 04/15/2003 pg. 1441 (EAN 9780618303984, Paperback)

Library Journal 04/15/2003 pg. 95 (EAN 9780618303984, Paperback)

Contributor Bio:  Stout, Glenn GLENN STOUT is the author of Young Woman and the Sea and Fenway 1912.