From Publishers Weekly
Ryan didn't have to stray too far from the Boston Globe offices to pen this brief history of the 1903 World Series champion Boston Americans. For a firsthand account of the team, players and series, Ryan relies almost exclusively on the 1903 Globe and its top baseball writer of the era, Tim Murnane. Luckily, Murnane is a scribe worthy of the task Ryan appoints him. Although he can be biased, Murnane's insider perspective and stylish writing, aided by an impressive collection of illustrations and photographs, portray a time when Boston was the hub not only of American culture but also of the national pastime. Ryan picks up where Murnane leaves off, maintaining the flow of events from the beginning of the 1903 season to the last out of the World Series and beyond. He succeeds thanks to timely references to current baseball personalities (Joe Torre, Peter Gammons, etc.), and by complementing Murnane's turn-of-the-century vernacular with more modern phrases like "small ball" and "old school." Like Murnane, he focuses his attention on Boston (Pittsburgh, Boston's opponents, are first mentioned in chapter five), giving the book a defiantly one-sided take on its main focus, the first World Series. Instead of intending this as a slight, Ryan paints it as a fitting celebration of a team and a city that, despite it being close to a century since they ruled the baseball world, cherish their decisive roles in creating one of America's most proud and long-standing traditions.
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