The Fenway Effect: A Cultural History of the Red Sox

To be a part of Red Sox Nation is to be a hopeful romantic who neither betrays loyalty nor surrenders hope in the direst of circumstances. The Fenway Effect author David Krell knows the Sox phenomenon well, and he'll give us a lively discussion of the wider social impact of Boston's beloved team.
The Sox history has intersected with the history of Boston and gone well beyond it, through the Curse of the Bambino, the military service of Ted Williams during World War II, and the Boston Marathon bombing.The Fenway Effect chronicles these stories and others that have built the incredible saga of the Sox.

How did Cheers depict the passion of Boston’s sports fans? Why is Narragansett beer so important to New England? What’s the architectural impact of The Teammates—the statue of Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, Ted Williams, and Dom DiMaggio outside Fenway Park? What did the Boston press really think about Red Sox owner Harry Frazee selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees? What was the origin of Fenway Park’s predecessor—Huntington Avenue Grounds?

Even Yankees fans will tip their caps to the rich impact of the Red Sox on music, movies, branding, broadcasting, and more. And Krell even includes the oral history of Red Sox fans, some of whom share anecdotes that are funny, insightful, and heartwarming.

David Krell is an author, speaker, and former producer at MSNBC. He is the author of 1962: Baseball and America in the Time of JFK (Nebraska, 2021) and “Our Bums”: The Brooklyn Dodgers in History, Memory, and Popular Culture.

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