Jim Prime. Amazing Tales from the 2004 Boston Red Sox Dugout. New York: Sports Publishing, 2014. Print.

The dates above are not a misprint. The book is about the 2004 Red Sox, but it was published this year.

Amazing Tales from the 2004 Boston Red Sox Dugout is an oral history. Most of it is told by a dozen or so players and business managers from the Red Sox. Some are quotations that readers may recognize from interviews done back in 2004, but many were done more recently by the men looking back on that season.

This book can give readers some good ideas about what was going on among the players and management but, even more so, an idea what it is like to be a member of a professional sports team. A recurring theme is that everyone contributes. Another is that an effective team puts egos aside for the good of the team. There are a number of anecdotes to give a sense of what some of the players were like, and some of the more famous episodes are presented in detail—e.g. the A-Rod vs. Varitek brawl or the bloody sock.

Some of the contributors are big names like Curt Schilling, Keith Foulke, Bill Mueller, and Pedro Martinez. But Amazing Tales from the 2004 Boston Red Sox Dugout also includes Doug Mirabelli, Gabe Kapler, and Dave McCarty. It becomes very clear that there was a lot of mutual respect. Yes, everyone respected Schiling and Pedro, but many testify how the bench players all contributed to the team’s success. We get the impression that the clubhouse really was harmonious, especially after the trades made at the trading deadline. Readers even get an understanding of how team members related to some players who might have been Jonahs on other teams.

One chapter gives a short summary of each player’s contribution to the 2004 team including a “Where are They Now?” paragraph. Fans would find that interesting. Although many of the players are still affiliated with baseball in some capacity, only two are still regular players on MLB teams: Bronson Arroyo and David Ortiz. Kevin Youkilis is playing in Japan, and Johnny Damon may be looking for some team to pick him up.  Damon just needs 231 hits to reach the 3,000 hit milestone.

Baseball fans, especially those who follow the Red Sox, would find this worth reading. Coaches and management might get some ideas on how good teams are put together. Talent is important, but it is not the only component.

I was not familiar with the publisher, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, but they really need to proofread this work more carefully. Reading this $25 book was more like reading a draft or a galley. There were about a hundred typos including such things as league for lead and many (all lower case) for Manny (viz., Ramirez). Reading this book was like reading a letter from someone whose handwriting is not always clear. Readers will have to puzzle over some sentences before seeing what the author intended to write.  Also one player’s testimony of about a page in length was repeated verbatim about fifty pages later for no apparent reason. Someone in production was asleep at the switch.