Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top
by Seth Mnookin
Book Summary Information
Author: Seth MnookinEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-06-05
ISBN: 0743286820
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Reviews of Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top
Book Review: Essential Reading for Those Who Want Another World Championship for the Red Sox
Summary: 5 Stars
Although both major Boston papers are filled with Red Sox stories, much of what is written is wrong, biased, or irrelevant. Because so much ink is slung so indiscriminately, many involved with the Red Sox don't really want to open up to the press. In a remarkable departure from the policy of not providing any information, the team's new ownership decided to let the public in to know more about the team. One aspect of that new philosophy was to allow author, Seth Mnookin, unparalleled access to the team's management.
Now, that may not seem like a juicy subject, but it is if you are interested in how the Red Sox can hope to field teams that can compete with the New York Yankees and the unlimited budget for personnel in the Bronx. In Feeding the Monster, you get a realistic sense that the Red Sox are going to have bad years . . . in order to have good years. Now, that's quite a contradiction to the constantly upbeat publicity that the club has put out since the new owners took over. That "promise them anything" philosophy in fact becomes a major bone of contention that almost drives Theo Epstein away.
There are places where the book seems to falter. Some players are dismissed as being a problem for the club based on a few incidents or characteristics. Most of us have our drawbacks. While we're performing, no one cares. When we don't perform, those drawbacks are often cited when we lose a job. The same happens to baseball players.
But the behind-the-scenes look at management is unprecedented . . . and dispels a lot of myths happily carried forward by the local media. I was glad to see the record set straight about how the club came into its current ownership hands, for example.
It was interesting that this book came out describing the 2006 season as a problem year just as the Red Sox collapsed in the five-game series in Fenway . . . and the Yankees went nowhere. In the excitement of the great wins early in the season, it was easy to overlook that the club didn't have the pitching to make it very far. It was all the more remarkable that the early season went so well. Congratulations to the Red Sox for accomplishing as much as they did in 2006.
Wait until next year!
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