This week my BFF and I are in Beantown for a girls week away. It’s her first time and my second to what’s fast becoming one of my absolute favorite places to visit. Boston has history, fantastic food and so much to do. In the spirit of this trip and a great tour of Fenway Park we just took (one of the best tours so far), I decided to pick up THEOLOGY: HOW A BOY WONDER LED THE RED SOX TO THE PROMISED LAND by John Frascella. If Helen Fielding was the queen of chick-lit, I think Frascella may be on the high court for dick-lit in this breezy book about baseball for boys.

Not to say that women won’t like this, but it’s heavy on details and stats on the rise of one smart and quirky Theo Epstein as the youngest major league General Manager in the history of the game. Appointed at 28 in 2002, the Boston Red Sox broke an 86 year old curse to win the National Championship. Shockingly, he resigned in 2005 and was rehired just 3 months later. Since then, the Sox won another ring in 2007.


Frascella’s writing is a bit light and airy and his book comes off more as a tribute than a non-fiction account of an interesting person of note. Epstein is apparently tremendously private and I understand did not participate or cooperate with the publication of this book. That being said, most of it appears to have been obtained by information you can Google about Epstein or the Sox.


I found Frascella’s story to take on almost too strong a tone of adoration. Certainly, Epstein is bright and has done a lot to help the Red Sox franchise, but the high praise is a bit syrupy sweet for my taste. True baseball fans, and Red Sox aficionados for sure, might really enjoy the flavor of Frascella’s writing.


For me, Frascella’s THEOLOGY is no book wonder, but an enjoyable read for anyone interested in covering the bases on some recent Red Sox history making.


Rating: 2 stars
Pages: 208
Genre: Non-Fiction