Product Description: Feeding the Green Monster is an invaluable and unique addition to baseball writing from one of its best informed columnists.In the spring of 2000, baseball fanatic and ESPN.com columnist Rob Neyer set out to live every baseball fan's dream. He would spend the next six months attending every one of the Boston Red Sox's home games. His journal of the season that followed, Feeding the Green Monster, is a candid look at baseball as it's played today. While there are the ups (when the Red Sox led their division) and the downs (when the Red Sox eventually dropped from contention), there were countless thrilling moments and plays in between.Neyer takes the reader through these events, like the pitching contest between Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez, the powerful batting of Nomar Garciaparra, and the managerial decisions of coach Jimy Williams. But Neyer also takes readers through a guided tour of a little bit of baseball history, discussing the statistics and achievements that are of endless fascination to fans everywhere. He delves into the history of Fenway Park and the controversy over whether it's destined to be replaced by a "mallpark." He looks at some of Fenway's unique features like "Pesky's Pole" and, of course, the infamous Green Monster.Feeding the Green Monster also offers a portrait of baseball fans. From the die-hard hecklers, to the children, to the scalpers, Neyer brings a classic stadium to life along with its inhabitants. Readers everywhere will relish the chance for a guided tour to a season with one of baseball's legendary teams
Not his best, but a good read This is probably Rob Neyer's least known book. His initial publisher rejected it and it was finally published by a rather obscure press months later than intended. Although the book describes a not particularly memorable season for the Red Sox, fans of Neyer will find it worthwhile. As much a memoir as a pure baseball book (the reason his first publisher rejected it?), it still includes large dollops of the distinctive Neyer analysis. If I knew Neyer only from his ESPN.com column, I would probably start with his Big Book of Baseball Blunders or Big Book of Baseball Lineups, both of which are likely to be more appealing to the hardcore baseball fan.
A Quality Start To put it into baseball terms, Neyer's personal account of the 2000 Red Sox season is 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks. Otherwise, it's a quality start that gives the team a chance win the game - but not an overwhelming performance on its own.
While Neyer does include parts very similiar to his statistical columns on ESPN.com, this book is mainly a journal of his everyday life living around Fenway and attending every Red Sox home game - an experience that most baseball fans can only dream about. At his best, Neyer talks about the relationships he's developed with ticket scalpers and avoiding security to stay inside the ballpark overnight to experience Fenway when it's abandoned overnight. At times, he dives a little too deeply into his personal life, but not without displaying just how much he lives, eats and breathes baseball.
Sadly, the book is an account of an otherwise forgettable Red Sox season where they didn't even make the postseason. Since this book has been published, the Red Sox are not a regular playoff team and have even won the World Series. As a result, the reader can't help but feel cheated and sad for Neyer that his book didn't include an October Fenway experience.
I can't help but wonder how this book could have been improved if he had included an entry from a day spent with the grounds crew or a game from inside the Monster's manual scoreboard. But I guess that's just the fan in me who wants to see a no-hitter any time you attend a game. Quality starts can be pretty enjoyable too.
Best book-buying decision I've ever made... ...and I run a bookstore for a living, so I make hundreds every day. Neyer's book was just what the doctor ordered, and that is a refreshingly well-written journey through a season at Fenway. The tidbits about Rob's personal life, and his status as a vegetarian (as I am, and not many folks understand what it's like to search for acceptable food when visiting the ballpark), enhanced what was already a brilliant story. What baseball fan hasn't dreamed of giving everything up for a summer and immersing himself or herself in the game? Rob does so and gives his readers a chance to live the experience through him and his writing. I love this book. To me, it ranks up with the Boys of Summer, Ball Four and all of Thomas Boswell's collections as the best of what baseball writing can be. In fact, Boswell is an apt comparison, because both he and Neyer understand the game and understand what makes it special -- that it curls around one's life and acts as a set of benchmarks, just as life benchmarks the game in return.
Good writer. Good book. Check it out. Whether you're a Sox fan or not.
A Passionate Story About A Season With The Red Sox Rob Neyer lived many a fan's dream during the 2000 major league season when he attended all 81 home games of the Boston Red Sox at their historic home, Fenway Park. But that wasn't the full extent of his baseball watching that summer. He managed to push his season total higher still with games in Seattle, New York, Kansas City and Pawtucket. The book that resulted, "Feeding the Green Monster," is Rob's diary of that busy season. We get plenty of baseball between these covers--and also a lot about Rob's life.
Neyer is a columnist for ESPN.com, and his knowledge of, and passion for the game shine throughout the text. He's also quite eloquent and passionate about Fenway itself, and makes a strong case why this historic ballyard, the oldest left in the major leagues, should not be prematurely retired. One of the highlights for me was the story of how Rob and a friend managed to stay after the end of a game and spend the night in Fenway, exploring every nook, cranny and crevice. It's going to be a long time before anyone can write this way about any of the current crop of "retro" ballparks, and I can never, ever imagine a fan feeling the same way about one of those cookie-cutter stadiums that proliferated in the 60s and 70s.
Sadly, Neyer didn't have much of a season to write about. The BoSox made a promising start that year, remained in contention for their division title for most of the summer, and were in the hunt for the wild card slot almost to the end, but once again fell short against the Yankees. A classic pennant race instead of a sad fade would have made for a more gripping text.
Some of the other reviewers seemed to find the book a bit too self-involved, but such is the nature of a dairy. I had a different take...I found myself thinking of Rob as something of a kindred spirit, and wishing I could go to a game with him sometime. Anyone who laments over the fact that too many great books are published to keep up with in a year, let alone a lifetime; and who had such a passionate love for this great American sport is going to rate very highly in my personal book.--William C. Hall
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