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The Greatest Game: The Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Playoff of '78 | 
 enlarge | Author: Richard Bradley
Publisher: Free Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $14.91
You Save: $10.09 (40%)
New (29) Used (12) from $14.81
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 39147
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.3
ISBN: 1416534385
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.357640974
EAN: 9781416534389
ASIN: 1416534385
Publication Date: March 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: A20080708095828W
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Product Description
In this spellbinding book, Richard Bradley tells the story of what was surely the greatest major league game of our lifetime and perhaps in the history of professional baseball. That game, played at Fenway Park on the afternoon of October 4, 1978, was the culmination of one of the most tense, emotionally wrought seasons ever, between baseball's two most bitter rivals, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Both teams finished this tumultuous season with identical 99-64 records, forcing a one-game playoff. With a one-run lead and two outs, with the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, the entire season came down to one at-bat and to one swing of the bat. It came down, as both men eerily predicted to themselves the night before, to the aging Red Sox legend, Carl Yastrzemski, and the Yankees' free-agent power reliever, Rich "Goose" Gossage. Anyone who calls himself a baseball fan knows the outcome of that confrontation. And yet such are the literary powers of the author that we are pulled back in time to that late-afternoon moment and become filled anew with all the taut sense of drama that sports has to offer, as if we don't know what happened. As if the thoughts swirling around in the heads of pitcher and hitter are still fresh, both still hopeful of controlling events. That climactic game occurred thirty seasons ago and yet it still captures our imagination. In this delightful work of sports literature, we watch the game unfold pitch by pitch, inning by inning, but Bradley is up to something more ambitious than just recounting this wonderful game. He also tells us the stories of the participants -- how they got to that moment in their lives and careers, what was at stake for them personally -- including the rivalries within the rivalry, such as catcher Carlton Fisk versus catcher Thurman Munson,and Billy Martin versus everyone. Using a narrative that alternates points of view between the teams, Bradley reacquaints us with a rich roster of characters -- Freddy Lynn, Ron Guidry, Catfish Hunter, Mike Torrez, Jerry Remy, Lou Piniella, George Scott, and Reggie Jackson. And, of course, Bucky Dent, who craved just such a moment in the sun -- a validation he had vainly sought from the father he barely knew. Not a book intended to celebrate a triumph or lament a loss, The Greatest Game will be embraced in both Boston and New York, with fans of both teams recalling again the talented young men they once gave their hearts to. And fans everywhere will be reminded how utterly gripping a single baseball game can be and that the rewards of being a fan lie not in victory but in caring beyond reason, even decades after the fact.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Poetic as the game itself! June 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was a 22 year old African American Yankee fan (attending college in Vermont) when this game was played. This book captures both the drama of that season, and the deep, abiding love New England had ( and still has) for The Red Sox. I've yet to see that degree of affection/devotion elsewhere, and it has been a long time since I have read a book this fine.
 Lots of Careless Errors June 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There are many careless errors in this book, so much so that I start questioning its content. The glaring errors that I've noticed: (1) on page 99 he states that Yaz pulled a HR off of Guidry, which is factually correct. He states that Yaz pulled a line drive "sharply down the left field line." Yaz is a left-handed hitter. He would--and did--pull the HR around the Pesky pole in right field. (2) On page 78 he stated that Gullett's right arm hurt so much that he received his second cortisone shot of the season. Gullett throws left-handed. (3) On page 1 he incorrectly recorded the Yankees' decisive win against the Dodgers in the 1977 WS by the score of 8-3 (it was 8-4). (4) He describes how Guidry learned his slider, and states how Lyle taught him the slider. He writes how Guidry "snapped his wrist" at the end of throwing the slider. I'm a pitcher, and a slider is thrown with a straight wrist--the forearm and wrist as one. You actually snap your elbow, not your wrist, that's why the Dodger Organization didn't teach the slider to younger pitchers--they were concerned about pichers developing bad elbows.
I'm sure there are much more errors to come since I'm only on page 99! But while the book is enjoyable, it's also frustrating how someone writing a baseball book about two fanatical franchises could make such glaring errors. He could have gotten away with these errors if he was writing about Arizona and Tampa Bay, but not the Yankees and the Red Sox.
Excellant Book on The Greatest Rivalry in Sports May 16, 2008
I just finished "The Greatest Game" a few minutes ago & i so enjoyed it's contents i had to author a quick review. In short, this was the best book on the 1978 playoff race between the Bombers & the Bosox that i've read yet & i'm an absolute fanatic when it comes to anything Yankees-Redsox. The author does a great job of alternating pitch by pitch, inning by inning accounts with a larger overview of the season and the exciting pennant race that led up to the game. One of the highlights of the book is that it contains fascinating new insights into players and managers who i previously felt pretty familiar with. Great Baseball Book!
Sports as History through a Diamond Classic May 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Richard Bradley provides enough fresh angles on the classic 1978 one-game playoff between the Yankees and Red Sox that it feels like playing caroms off the Green Monster for the first time.
Delving into sports as history, Bradley avoids the cliches like simply retelling box score statistics or relying on rehashed recollections and truly delivers a clutch performance in making the legends come to life.
As great as the ending of the regular season - which led to this stunning climax for supremacy of the East Division (third place Milwaukee would have won the West by one game) - Bradley's account places makes the diamond classic a spectacular gem.
 Terrific April 3, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Longtime Red Sox fan here.I remember all too well the '78 season and that agonizing playoff game.The book is well written and researched and to get Carl Yastrzemski to talk as much as he did is a coup.I did find two mistakes,one factual and one grammatical.Reggie Cleveland of the Red Sox was a pitcher,not an outfielder (p.51),and on page 253 when writing about the death of Thurman Munson the text reads "to low" when of course it should be too low.Beyond that though I loved reading this book,even if the end was not to my satisfaction. :)
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