Steve Goldman

Easily the most original and thought-provoking of the deluge of Red Sox World Series books, Mind Game reframes the ups and downs of the 2004 season through the means of some very sophistocated statistical analysis. Among other things, they look at the catatonic first half of the season, the A-Rod fight, the Nomar trade, the September winning streak, and (of course) The Comeback. I won't give anything away here, but suffice it to say that their take on these events is quite a bit different from what has beet written virtually everywhere else. I took half a star off my rating because the writing sometimes takes an annoying 'Look how (bleeping) smart we are' tone. All in all, recommended for baseball fans in general, and a must-have for Red Sox fans.… (meer)