Terry Francona and Boston’s Rise to Dominance
The story of the changing face of baseball and the inner workings of its finest organization
After a hundred “cursed” years, the Boston Red Sox rose gloriously to baseball domination. Under the leadership of manager Terry Francona, an extraordinary team of wildly disparate personalities—from the inscrutable Manny Ramirez to the affable David “Big Papi” Ortiz—pulled off two improbable post-season comebacks to make it to the World Series twice in three years . . . and ultimately emerged victorious. In Red Sox Rule, Michael Holley, bestselling author of Patriot Reign, provides a fascinating, insightful, and surprising inside look at how it all happened.
With the exclusive cooperation of Terry Francona and stories from the clubhouse and the conference room, Holley reveals the private sessions and the dugout and front-office strategies that have made the Red Sox a budding dynasty, overtaking their archrivals, the powerful New York Yankees, as the American League’s elite team.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Enlightening. . . . An X-and-O guy’s dream . . . the best thing I’ve read on football in recent years. . . . Superb.” – Peter King, Sports Illustrated on Patriot Reign
“… a look inside the Fenway Park bunker…extremely insighful into how being a manager of a major league team has evolved, and how Francona has become the embodiment of that evolution.” – Providence Journal
“Illuminating… enjoyable reading.” – Boston Globe
“An inside look at how Francona manages gfames and his ballclub… Fascinating.” – Kennebec Journal (Maine)
“Engaging…Holley puts Francona s managing style in perspective through accounts of his hard-luck playing career, descriptions of cantankerous managers of the past, and analysis of how the game has evolved over the years. – Providence Journal-Bulletin
From the Back Cover
Michael Holley, bestselling author of Patriot Reign, provides an inside look at how it all happened. With the exclusive cooperation of Terry Francona and stories from the clubhouse and the conference room, Holley reveals the private sessions and the dugout and front-office strategies that have made the Boston Red Sox a budding dynasty.
When Grady Little’s job prospects were dimming during game seven of the Red Sox–Yankees playoffs in 2003, Oakland A’s bench coach Terry Francona was puttering around his house, unaware of his fate. General manager Theo Epstein and owner John Henry sat in their Fenway box, praying that Little would pull Pedro Martinez. And fans throughout New England howled when Martinez remained in the game and the Sox lost the series. They wanted Little’s head, and they got it.
In Epstein and Henry’s search for a manager, they wanted someone from the new school, someone who could manage wealthy and/or sensitive players and rely not only on gut and instinct but also on the cold science of statistics. Francona, the son of a professional baseball player and a major leaguer himself until devastating knee injuries ended his career prematurely, was a dark horse candidate. After all, he’d been a mediocre manager while with the Phillies. But he had a great head for the game, and as the manager for the minor league Birmingham Barons, he had managed none other than Michael Jordan without a glitch.
After Francona’s job interview with Epstein, which included a written test and a game simulation, the Red Sox felt they’d found their man. And now, after two championships in four seasons, they have their proof.
With a team of disparate personalities, from the inscrutable Manny Ramirez to the affable David Ortiz, Francona and the Red Sox have overtaken their hated archnemesis, the New York Yankees, as the American League’s elite team.
Insightful, fascinating, and surprising, Red Sox Rule is the story of the changing face of baseball and the inner workings of its finest organization.
About the Author
MICHAEL HOLLEY is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Patriot Reign, Never Give Up (with Tedy Bruschi), and Red Sox Rule. He was a Boston Globe sportswriter for ten years, and he is the cohost of The Big Show on Boston sports radio station WEEI. Holley lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his wife and two sons.
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I’m a Mom, a Grandmom, and a Veteran. Nothing scares me! That’s the saying on my favorite T Shirt. I’m enjoying life too much to let the little things slow me down. If you can’t tell from my Avatar, I live in Florida where I enjoy the sunshine and endure the hurricanes with good grace. Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good!
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