Since most of this current decade has featured a fierce and and media-saturated rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox, it's not unlikely that many folks are sick and tired of it. But, for those of us of a certain age, when the Sox blew an enormous lead to the Yankees in 1978 and then came back to force a one game playoff, it was something fresh and wonderful. And the game that resulted, with the homerun by Bucky "F***in" Dent--as he is still known today in Sox Nation--is seared upon the memory like the Kennedy Assassination or 9-11. Yes, I know, such comparisons seem to trivialize the world historic and/or artificially elevate a mundane sporting contest, but it is true nonetheless. It may not be--almost certainly is not--the "Greatest Game " ever played, but it is a genuine touchstone for many and Richard Bradly does it justice in this fascinating book.

Mr. Bradley borrows the form of Daniel Okrent's classic, Nine Innings, and Buster Olney's Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, telling the story of the game inning by inning but alternating game action with the back story on the remarkable cast of characters who played that day and the tumultuous season they'd all been through. If you aren't a fan of either team you may have no love (nor loathing) for Don Zimmer, Carlton Fisk, Jerry Remy, Carl Yastrzemski, Luis Tiant, Goose Gossage, Ron Guidry, Mickey Rivers, Graig Nettles, Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Billy Martin, George Steinbrenner and the rest, but you're guaranteed to find them at least entertaining and not infrequently beguiling. There is rich material to draw upon here and Mr. Bradley has done quite a bit with it.

(Reviewed:01-Dec-08)

Grade: (B+) Orrin C. Judd

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Richard Bradley Links:

    -AUTHOR SITE: RichardBradley.net
    -Richard Bradley (The Journalism School Columbia University)
    -GOOGLE BOOK: The Greatest Game
    - 02138 Magazine
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    - ARTICLE: Sandow Media Names Richard Bradley Editor-in-Chief at Worth Magazine and Worth.com (Reuters, May 12, 2008)
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    -REVIEW: of The Greatest Game by Richard Bradley (Bill Nowlin, Boston Globe)
    -REVIEW: of The Greatest Game (The New Yorker)
    -REVIEW: of The Greatest Game (David Hinckley, NY Daily News)
    -REVIEW: of The Greatest Game (Jason Zasky, Failure Magazine)
    -REVIEW: of The Greatest Game (George Kimball, Boston Phoenix)
    -REVIEW: of The Greatest Game (Mark J. Miller, Barnes & Noble)
    -REVIEW: of The Greatest Game (Jeff Labrecque, Entertainment Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of The Greatest Game (John Couture, South Coast Today)
    -REVIEW: of The Greatest Game (Fenway West)
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    -REVIEW: of Harvard Rules by Richard Bradley (Stephen Metcalf, Slate)
    -REVIEW: of Harvard Rules (Jim Sleeper, Boston Globe)
    -REVIEW: of Harvard Rules (David Carr, NY Times Book Review)
    -REVIEW: of Harvard Rules (Scott Jashick, Inside Higher Ed)
    -REVIEW: of Harvard Rules (Abigail Reider, Yale Daily News)

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