The Batter's Edge: A Year With The Boston Red Sox

Told in an engaging first-person narrative by a life-long Red Sox fan, The Batter's Edge describes the players' initial resistance to the system and Olivieri's struggle for acceptance. Join Olivieri as he sits in on strategic sessions with Wade Boggs, witnesses hilarious clubhouse banter, and gets to know the people behind the uniforms. Baseball fans and technology buffs will enjoy this unique perspective on life inside the clubhouse. Readers will savor the details of this special season in which Olivieri uses technology to help an adored franchise in their continuing quest to win the World Series.

Olivieri's lifelong love of the team shines through here as he describes being a child growing up a few miles from Fenway Park, playing Little League with Jim Rice's number on his back, memorizing locker combinations by associating the numbers with Red Sox players' numbers, and watching or listening to every game. Even as a youngster, however, he realized that "the Red Sox, ultimately, are a symbol of disappointment." Time after time, he watched a team "with superb talent losing in ways screenwriters couldn't script." His chance to make a difference, using a home-grown computer program to give an edge to the batter, not only allowed him the chance to meet some of his heroes but actually to help them to improve their hitting--and maybe the team's record.

Olivieri's descriptions capture both the romance the game and the tedium of the locker room, the camaraderie of the players and the excesses of the press, locker room "etiquette" and the public missteps of some of the players. He himself is a respectful, "background" sort of person, careful not to call attention to himself so that the players can discover for themselves his program and its opportunities. His opinions of Wade Boggs, Ellis Burks, Mike Greenwell, Phil Plantier, Roger Clemens, and the unfortunate Jeff Gray ring with truth and personal insight. Red Sox fans, computer specialists, and lovers of baseball should be fascinated by this behind-the-scenes look at the interface between the computer and baseball--the beginning of a new era. Mary Whipple


Love those Red Sox   December 31, 2003
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Olivieri has an exceptional talent for telling a story. Put that together with a storyline that brings the reader right inside the Red Sox clubhouse - and the result is a book that makes you thirst for more. The dialogues, descriptions, and insider's look make you feel as if you were in the clubhouse yourself. This book was a great read - I did it in one sitting. I certainly hope that Olivieri continues the story - I will be first in line to get the next book(s) - and perhaps that is the greatest review of all. You don't have to be a Sox fan to enjoy this book but, if you are, it will become one of your favorites.


Great read for baseball fans...and others   December 31, 2003
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Since my daughter has been living in Boston for the past 10 years, and I get to travel there to visit quite a bit, I have become a rabid Sox fan (but just in the American League; the Phillies are my team in the National!). I love their storied and star-crossed history, and this book gives me new insights into the baseball culture and system. It's told from the perspective of a fan who gets the "once in a lifetime" job to mingle with the players on his hometown team. There are tremendous locker room scenes, and the players appear to be more human than we really see them when they are just on the field. Even Roger Clemens appears likeable, which is almost amazing! A close read of the book reveals that the writer was not too thrilled with the front office Sox organization, but it's the old story that familiarity breeds contempt. This is a book all baseball fans, and those who enjoy a well written book, will love! Read it, you won't be sorry.