Blood Feud: The Red Sox, the Yankees, and the Struggle of Good versus Evil - Softcover

Prime, Jim; Nowlin, Bill

3.81

37 ratings by Goodreads

9781579401115: Blood Feud: The Red Sox, the Yankees, and the Struggle of Good versus Evil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1579401112 ISBN 13: 9781579401115

Publisher: Rounder Records Group, 2005

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A fresh look at the merciless Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, drawing on history, original interviews with players from both sides, and discussions with partisans of each team among the fans.

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About the Author:

When not busy doing good works, JIM PRIME lives a monastic life in New Minas, Nova Scotia. He is the author of several baseball books, including Ted Williams’ Hit List, Tales From the Red Sox Dugout and The Little Red Sox Book. His angelic wife Glenna knits colorful crying towels for depressed Yankee fans. His cherubic children, Jeffrey and Catherine, have now gone forth to spread the Red Sox gospel to the world.

In 2004, Fenway Park finally became the Garden of Eden. BILL NOWLIN was born in Boston and still lives fairly near Fenway, in Cambridge. This is his tenth Red Sox-related book, but only the first one completed while the Red Sox are reigning World Champions. He’s a co-founder of America's premier roots music label, Rounder Records. In 2004, Bill was elected VP of the Society for American Baseball Research.

To countless fans, baseball is virtually a religion anyway and if the Grand Old Game can teach some of the verities, it may serve to alleviate the guilt associated with skipping church in order to attend a double header or of videotaping Passover services to catch the game live on TV. This, then, is our own foray into the nature of Good and Evil. It is not meant to be in any way sacrilegious. Our suspicion that God may be a Yankees fan was admittedly in our darkest time of doubt and we have since tried to suppress this kind of thinking, mostly unsuccessfully, we admit, until 2004. No, God is a Red Sox fan. We’re sure of it now. He was just testing us—and doing His usual fine job if we may say so. He has instilled us with the patience of Job (or Kevin Youkilis) and the wisdom of Solomon (or Theo Epstein), and the persistence of Moses (or Curt Schilling). We can handle anything now. Bucky Dent was a trial, Bill Buckner was a trouble, and Aaron Boone was a tribulation.! They were the locusts and sores and boils that helped make us better people. Grady Little was our sackcloth; and a tired Pedro our ashes.

At the risk of alienating a rather large section of the northeastern United States and parts of Florida, our basic contention is that while the Red Sox are the incarnation of GOOD, the Yankees are the embodiment of EVIL. Boston is akin to Paradise and New York is so bad it makes Sodom and Gomorrah look about as wicked as Minneapolis-St.Paul. Again, not to put too fine a point on it: they have Beelzebub behind the plate, Lucifer in left, Mephistopheles in center, Old Nick at third, the Prince of Darkness at short, and Satan on the mound. They are accursed, demoniacal, diabolical, fiendish, infernal, malevolent, malignant, and wicked. Not only are they damn Yankees, they are damned Yankees.

They have struck a deal with the devil and up until very recently they have been reaping the benefits. The exact details of the deal are unknown but are said to involve Babe Ruth, Harry Frazee, and lots of money, which is where the expression "money is the Ruth of all evil" originated. The Red Sox and Yankees have fought tooth and nail since the early part of the 20th century, ever since Ruth was tempted by a serpent named Harry Frazee to help himself to the Big Apple and all the sin and debauchery that it represented. The Bambino was cast out of the Garden of Eden known as Fenway to occupy the nether world of New York. Thus Ruth became the first fallen Red Sox player when he was banished by Frazee, crossed the river Styx, and entered New York. (There was a long line of others. When the irrepressible Luis Tiant went from the losing Sox to the winning Yankees and was immediately featured in an Oscar Meyer commercial, he uttered the unforgettable tag line: "It’s great to finally be with a wiener.")

Since then, the Yankees are guilty of having repeatedly committed all of the Seven Deadly Sins. Here are just a few examples. Gluttony: Let’s face it, Babe Ruth really let himself go after leaving Boston. Pride: Who hasn’t heard of the "Pride of the Yankees"? Envy: Why else would George Steinbrenner try to covet his neighbor’s assets? El Tiante, Roger, Wade, ARod, etc.? Lust: Lusting for power is just part of it. Ever hear of Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich? You could look it up, as Casey Stengel used to say. In addition, Yogi often referred to the "immoral Babe Ruth." Anger/Wrath: Did you see A-Rod after Varitek gave him a glove massage? Zimmer’s face when he charged Pedro? Billy Martin when he ripped Reggie for not hustling? Steinbrenner after a loss to the Sox? Greed: This is too easy. Look at the payroll. Sloth: Face it: Babe Ruth really, really let himself go after leaving Boston. This book is an attempt to teach some moral lessons about Good and Evil, using the Red Sox as a symbol of good and the Yankees as the essence of evil. "Hating the Yankees is as American as pizza pie and cheating on your income tax." —Mike Royko

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