Reversing The Curse By: Dan Shaughnessy

As you may have heard, the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series,

ending an 86-year drought. What is constantly amazing to me in the number of authors who apparently just happened to be writing books about that season. This is yet another. The book implies that it was in the works the entire season, and by lucky chance it was the year. Dan Shaughnessy, as a long-standing Boston Globe reporter, has a unique view of the season that he relayed through this book. Through research and first hand knowledge, Shaughnessy is able to recreate the story of the magical 2004 season.

This book is brought to you by the creator of the curse nonsense himself. While Shaughnessy wasn’t the first person to think the Sox were cursed or the first person to trace it back to Babe Ruth, he was the first person to publish a book using a catchy name: “The Curse of the Bambino.” He certainly didn’t mind telling you that throughout this book. You could sense the annoyance that his personal curse gold mine had dried up. But, I will never tire of reading about the 2004 Red Sox. One of the more interesting points of the book was to see how Shaughnessy relayed stories I had heard many times before. Tid-bits that I have heard for years as fact, he presented as rumors. Quotes I’ve heard 100 times were different, or longer, when included in this book. It just goes to show how authors, including Shaughnessy I presume, can alter history to their liking. Since I don’t expect to learn anything new anymore from a book about the 2004 Sox, this was an enjoyable read…especially if you ignored the constant self-promoting. I’m not normally a fan of Shaughnessy’s writing…he may be the only thing that Curt Schilling is right about. But, this book may be the exception that makes the rule. It even makes me want to track down a copy of the original “The Curse of the Bambino.”

Rating: 3 bases