Book: Shut Out
Written By Howard Bryant (Routledge) (Published Sept. 2002)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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An intriguing and eye-opening treatise tackling the great American pastimes of baseball and racism, "Shut Out" has all the pieces of a fabulous read, yet for all its jaw-dropping revelations, it comes up a tad short. The sordid story of the Boston Red Sox franchise - the last major league club to field a black player (twelve years after the Dodgers let Jackie Robinson loose on the bases) - has enough crazy intrigue to fill a book, and by gub, here it is. Starting with owner Tom Yawkey and his drinkin'/fishin'/redneck flunkies running the whitest team around in a city seething with racial tensions, Bryant keeps throwing hard hitting salvos that just keep a coming. Never mind the turbulent post war years, the Bosox practised a well-hushed racial game well into the nineties! All fascinating stuff, except that in his obvious zeal on the subject matter, Bryant tends to be over repetitive. After a while it's like being beaten over the head with the same disturbing facts - could be on purpose to hammer the point home I suppose - but what this book needs is a good chop-chop editor, cuz the content is dynamite, and Bryant knows his stuff.

© 2003 - John Sekerka