Meet the Red Sox W hen you play for the Boston Red Sox it doesn’t take tt ttaakkee long to realize that you are part of something big ig The team has millions of fans all over its home state of Massachusetts The Red Sox also are the home team for Maine New Hampshire Vermont Rhode Island and parts of Connecticut and New York The Red Sox are part of a long tradition and also a part of American sports history That is why so many players dream of wearing the Boston uniform This is true even for those who grew up thousands of miles away This book tells the story of the Red Sox They are one of of the best-known and most-loved sports teams in the world Even Even in defeat there has always been something special about the Red Sox Doing the impossible is what drives the team and its fans Red Sox fans cheer for Dustin Pedroia as he returns to the dugout Pedroia’s hard work and skill made him an instant favorite in Boston 5
Glory Days T he history of baseball in Boston stretches back to the 1800s The city has been home to winning teams since the 1870s In 1901 the American League AL played its first season It placed a team in Boston to compete with the National League NL club that already played there The new team tried a couple of different names before settling on Red Sox around 1908 By then Boston had already won the pennant twice in 1903 and 1904 The club was successful because it convinced many NL stars to join the team Players such as Jimmy Collins Bill Dineen Cy Young Chick Stahl and Buck Freeman were well known to Boston baseball fans In fact all of them had played for the city’s NL team in 1900 From 1912 to 1918 the Red Sox won the AL pennant and the World Series four times These teams were among the greatest in history Boston’s incredible pitching staff included Joe Wood Rube Foster Ernie Shore 6
LEFT Harry Hooper was the finest outfielder of his time RIGHT Tris Speaker and Joe Wood were stars of the team that won four pennants from 1912 to1918 Dutch Leonard Carl Mays Joe Bush and Babe Ruth Tris Speaker Harry Hooper Larry Gardner and Duffy Lewis were the hitting stars In 1918 the Red Sox decided that Ruth was too good a hitter to be a full-time pitcher They moved him to the outfield and he led the league in home runs that season Ruth also won 13 games on the mound In 1919 he set a new season record with 29 home runs That was quite a feat since ballparks were very large and baseballs did not travel as far as they do today After the season Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the New York Yankees for 100,000 Some believe Frazee decided to use the money to fund a play instead of spending it to improve the team The play was a success but Boston started to lose During the 1920s and 1930s the Red Sox often finished in last place 7
