by Michael Holley.

Harper Entertainment, 224 pages, $25.95

By Kristin Latina
Special to the Journal

If you are not a baseball fan, or if you are a fan of a team outside of the Northeast, the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry can seem bizarre and overcooked. Sometimes it even seems that way to fans of the two teams.

As a columnist for the Boston Globe and a television and sports radio commentator on ESPN and WEEI in Boston, Michael Holley is well versed in the finer points of the rivalry. However, in his new book, Red Sox Rule, he examines how Boston’s manager Terry Francona, in concert with new management, put an end to the bad decisions that allowed New York to dominate them through the 2003 postseason.

Although the book sometimes caters too much to the idea that Boston is the most special baseball town ever (Chicago might seriously disagree), Holley’s writing is engaging, and the stories and details he uses to construct his story are much more interesting than the usual checkpoints people regurgitate about the Red Sox and their battles with the Yankees.

In fact, the most fascinating parts of the book are not about the rivalry at all. You can tell that Holley is a thorough and perceptive interviewer, and Francona’s path to the Fenway dugout provides plenty of material to support the belief that he has been the catalyst for Boston’s reversal of fortune.

For example, early in his coaching career Francona got a crash course in media scrutiny when he managed basketball great Michael Jordan during Jordan’s post-retirement stint with the Chicago White Sox’s affiliate in Birmingham, Ala. Later, he went to Philadelphia –– one of the roughest sports towns in the country –– where he got a reputation for being too nice.

“If the choices were talking tough to impress reporters and fans or working privately to make sure players were accountable to both him and their teammates, he would always choose the latter,” Holley wrote.

Holley puts Francona’s managing style in perspective through accounts of his hard-luck playing career, descriptions of cantankerous managers of the past, and analysis of how the game has evolved over the years. A section that details Francona’s job interview with general manager Theo Epstein and his staff is particularly telling.

It is clear that Francona’s calm demeanor, baseball knowledge, and respect for his players have altered the outlook of the franchise. Excellent rookies like Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia are making valuable contributions, young pitchers are being groomed in the farm system, and the larger egos on the team have been kept in check (mostly).

With all of this, and two world championships in four years, it is almost impossible to believe what Holley writes in the Epilogue: “. . . [Francona] has yet to receive a single first-place Manager of the Year vote.” RED SOX RULE,

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