Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston
by Howard Bryant
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Book Summary Information
Author: Howard BryantEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-09-02
ISBN: 0807009792
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Beacon Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780807009796
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston
Book Review: About more than just baseball and the Red Sox
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best books I have read. While it may be centered on baseball, and the title certainly implies as much, this is much more than just a book about baseball. There's a lot more to be gained from reading it than just baseball, and thinking of it as a baseball book doesn't give any real sense of what a reader gains from it.
I'm a lifelong Red Sox fan, with the first season I remember being 1986 at age 10. So I grew up with the late years of Jim Rice's career, then players like Ellis Burks and Mo Vaughn, all of whom get prominent mention. I knew there was a stigma surrounding the Red Sox regarding race even as a kid, but I didn't know great details or have any idea just how deep it ran until I read this book. Needless to say, it was unsettling to learn about.
Bryant breaks down how the Red Sox were the last team in Major League Baseball to integrate, then how life was for black players who were part of the organization. He talks about the difficulty Reggie Smith had playing despite immense talent, the friendship Pumpsie Green and Bill Russell had and Russell's frustration with Boston, the career of Jim Rice, Ellis Burks' experience before he went on to become a slugger elsewhere, and what Mo Vaughn meant to the franchise. Even though I grew up knowing about Rice, Burks and Vaughn, this book shed a lot of new light on their experience.
But through it all, Bryant also shows how the media and the city played a role in all of this. He talked about the emergence of the Boston Globe at a time when the city had more newspapers than it does today, and the role personalities like Will McDonough, Peter Gammons, Larry Whiteside and Mike Barnicle played in reflecting and shaping attitudes on race as they concerned the team and the city. He goes into detail on how the tryout for Jackie Robinson was arranged in 1945. He illustrates how the Red Sox often reflected the city, and oddly enough, how in 1975 the Red Sox came to be a bright light for a time during the era of busing. He goes through the Stuart case and even had an interesting note about Rice's days growing up in South Carolina and how his talents were exploited by local politicians. It was also quite interesting to learn about how Boston's neighborhoods have changed over time; for example, I wasn't aware that Mattapan was once almost all Jewish.
Bryant has written a winner. Having read a lot of his columns before, I knew what he was capable of, and that's why I bought the book. I wasn't disappointed, and as I got further along I couldn't put the book down and had to finish it. I was glad I did.
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