* Well of course Boston doesn't think it was a great game

May 29, 2008

Surprise, surprise. The Boston Phoenix finds fault with Richard Bradley’s new book on the 1978 playoff game between the Yankees and Red Sox. Perhaps had it turned out differently…

“I don’t know about your reading habits,” writes George Kimball, “but when I come across an obvious factual error in a book, my initial inclination is to wince in sympathy for the soon-to-be-embarrassed author.

“Unless, that is, the mistake is infuriatingly egregious, in which case I’m more apt to throw the book up against the wall in disgust.”

Now I must admit, I haven’t thoroughly read the book yet, but by now readers of the Bookshelf know my feelings about any book labeled “great,” “best”, etc. The subject matter usually isn’t.

Bob Neyer recently sent an e-mail in answer to an issue I had with the indifference, if not inaccuracy, of another author’s project. Most publishers don’t care, as long as there isn’t anything for which they can get sued. Maybe Kimball and his brethren should start looking for representation. The former sports editor of the weekly alternative paper lists several errors of fact, the usual stuff like getting the “handedness” of the ballplayers wrong, or the date:

The dust jacket of Richard Bradley’s new book describes a game played on the “afternoon of October 4, 1978” as “the culmination of one of the most intense, emotionally wrought seasons ever, between baseball’s two most bitter rivals.”

The one-game playoff in which the Yankees defeated the Red Sox to advance to the ’78 ALCS had taken place two days earlier at Fenway Park — on October 2.

There was a baseball game played on October 4 of that year, all right, but it took place at Royals Stadium — in Kansas City. The Royals’ Larry Gura beat the Yankees’ Ed Figueroa to even the American League Championship Series at a game apiece.

(Heavy sigh).

Unlike newspaper columns, I’m guessing readers don’t often bother writing to authors or publishers to vent their frustration. If they’re luck the corrections are made for subsequent editions.

Not to be puny, but these books are less great than “grating.”

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