The Progress of the Seasons

In this affecting memoir, with prose as sharp as a line-drive single, Higgins shows how his love of baseball is matched only by his love of his father and grandfather, men who introduced him to the game forty years earlier. Ian Esmo reads with care, maintaining a steady pace even when baseball stats intrude on the narrative. However, his voice lacks warmth, which would have added to Higgins's touching story. P.B.J. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

April 1, 1989
Higgins ( Wonderful Years, Wonderful Years ; The Friends of Eddie Coyle, etc.) grew up in Boston, and in this history of the Red Sox, he weaves the events of his life into the hometown backdrop of athletic non-achievement at the shrine of Fenway Park. Indoctrinated into the sect of Red Sox fandom at seven, when his father, a high school principal, and his banker grandfather took him to Fenway in 1946 (known as the year Sox infielder Johnny Pesky was ``late throwing home'' in the World Series), the author alternately recalls and rails at the goings-on of the past 40 years. The Sox haven't won the World Series since 1918, yet baseball is what keeps New Englanders alive, he asserts: everyone knows the Sox won't triumph, but each season begins with fans devoutly believing that ``this is the year the Sox finally win the Series.'' Higgins's affectionate look at the Sox is enhanced by an unabashed Boston boosterism and a loving reminiscence of his baseball-oriented family. At times he appears mired in a lengthy newspaper column on Sox fans' frustrations; however, his obvious love, zeal and attachment to the subject enable him to tell his tale with style.