Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season by Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King (2004)
Full disclosure: I am not a sports fan. I have gone to my grandkids' games and cheered them on, although I had no idea what was going on. Although for the glorious year of 1967, I did find myself as a Red Sox fan, but for that year and that year only.
So, this book was a difficult one for me, chockful of minutia -- personalities, plays, strategies, rankings, and personal quirks; enough detail that I could read about 20 pages at a time. So why did I put myself through the torture of reading the book? Because it really wasn't torture; it was a fascinating look at a side of life that has avoided me thus far, and probably will far into the future.
Two bestselling writers, Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King, decide to chronicle the 2004 baseball season from start to finish with no idea what would happen...and they got a book contract to do so. O'Nan is the prize-winning author of now 22 novels, including Snow Angels, Everyday People, and Last Night at the Lobster. King is one of the world's bestselling authors with at least 69 novels and twelve collections published; his latest book, due next month, is Other Worlds Than These, the third novel in the Talisman series written with Peter Straub.
The writing process here was simple. Each writer who record their feelings and experiences, game by game, over the year; interspersed with these pieces are various text messages between the two. I did not bother to make an actual count, but O'Nan's reflections were far more detailed than King's going in at times to an almost play-by-play reportage. Both King and O'Nan rely on a fan's knowledge of the players, often using nicknames and assuming the reader will know who is who and what team they are playing for.
Two things are clear: this is serious business for the pair, and the Yankees are hated.
2004 started off well, as has many other seasons. Typically, however, the Sox slowly sink in the rankings. Much of the first parts of the books are spent worrying about the rankings in relationship to the dreaded Yankees. What the authors did not expect was that 2004 would be a banner year for the Red Sox, culminating in a World Series championship. Their excitement and enthusiasm along the way -- and specifically toward the end -- are addictive.
Anyway, here's a flavor of the writing, this is Stewart O'Nan from the April 9th game with Toronto: "In thee Toronto eighth, righty Josh Phelps leads off, so Francona opts to go with Mike Timlin, who only threw two-thirds of an inning last night. Timlin Ks Phelps, but then has to face lefty Eric Hinske, who singles, and the switch-hitting Hudson, who doubles to the left-center gap, tying the game. Timlin gets pinch hitter Simon Bond, but number nine hitter Kevin Cash doubles to the exact same spot, and the crowd boos. There's nobody warming -- again, the effect of last night. Timlin hits Johnson with a pitch, and people are screaming. Catalanotto lines one over Millar's head. Miller turns and does his impression of running, giving a blind wave of his glove. We're lucky -- the ball hops into the stands for a ground-rule double, and Johnson has to go back to third. When Timlin finally gets wells to pop up for the third out, it's 7-5 Toronto."
O'Nan is the consummate fan. From May 3: "In anticipation of Saturday's front-row Monster seats, I drive around town in the rain to find a fishing net so we can haul the shots just short of the Wall. I go to Sears, figuring they might have a Ted Williams model in his fishing line. The floor associate tells me they no longer carry fishing gear -- or baseball gear, for that matter. All they have is home fitness equipment.
"I find a net with a telescoping arm at thee Sports Authority. It's big, and I doubt the gate attendants will let me in with it, but what the hell. Worst case, I take it back to the care. At home, the dogs are afraid of it. Trudy shakes her head. 'How much?' "
And here's King: "Bottom line? Baseball's a wonderful game. There's no greater thrill than when your team pulls one out. And you can't get that from a newspaper story. TV's better, but there's really noting on God's earth ;like being at the ballpark and getting on your feet in the bottom of the ninth , hot dog still in hand, when the Sox pull one out. If Heaven's that good, I guess I want to go."
On May 10, Mannie Ramirez misses a game. Here's King on May 11: "He has played every game this season except for this Monday's (May 10) trouncing by Cleveland, his old team. Manny was unavailable to play on that day because he was taking his U.S. citizenship test...which he passed. At the start of tonight's game he ran out to his position in left field with a big grin on his face and a small American flag in his right hand. Manny's people in left gave him a standing O.
"Way to go, Manny Ramirez -- welcome to the real big leagues."
And here's King on a devasting game against the Blue Jays: "Orlando Hudson has scored five of the Jay's runs, tying a team record. (Ask me if I give a shit.) And on the radio, color commentator Jerry Trupiano has been reduced to wondering how the sitcom Frazier, which finishes it run tonight, turned out.
"It's been that kind of game."
And O'Nan, on May 19: "Later, checking my e-mail;, I come across a story that says the Yankees are dropping Cracker Jack from their concession stands, going instead with Crunch 'N Munch, which they say tastes better (and still comes in a box). George, You're insane."
And there's this .little bit of worldly advice from King: "When they don't announce the game-time temperature at Fenway, you know you're in trouble."
Through trials and tribulations, errors and flubs and triumphs, egos and idiosyncrasies, the Sox -- no SPOILER ALERT NEEDED -- made it to the top, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in four games to zero and ending a 86-year drought.
Game 4 was on O'Nan's 20th anniversary. At his wife's insistence, they cancel their long-standing dinner reservations at the best restaurant in town. O'Nan: "It's more than must a win; it's a statement. By winning tonight, we broke the record for consecutive playoff wins, with eight straight. Another stat that every commentator unpacks is the we're only one of four championship teams to have never trailed in the Series...And to make it all sweeter, the last out was made by Edgar Renteria who wears -- as a couple of folks noted -- the Babe's famous #3."
And King: "I hardly could [believe it], and I wasn't the only one. A hundred miles away, my son wakes up his five-year-old son to see the end. When it was over and the red Sox were mobbing each other on the infield, Ethan asked his father, 'Is this a dream or are we living real life?' "
And let's give O'Nan the last word: "Well, the one year you write a book a bout the club, we win it all. Another fake curse reversed...[B]ut tonight I ate that Break the Curse cookie I got on Opening Day. A vow's a vow. Washed that stiff six-moth-old biscuit down with champagne and enpoyed every morsel of it. Life is sweet,"
As I said, I am not a baseball fan and I had to slog through the book, wading through more detail than I thought was possible, but the end result was worth it. I got to see the hearts of two of my favorite writers and explore their passion with them.
I have to recommend Faithful, not just for baseball or Red Sox fans, or for O'Nan or King completists, but also for experiencing the pure joy and heartbreak that major sports can bring to people.