Emperors and Idiots; The Hundred-Year Rivalry Between the Yankees and Red Sox, From the Very Beginning to the End of the Curse

New York: Doubleday, 2005. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xviii, [2], 364 pages. Illustrations. Index. Mike Vaccaro has been the lead sports columnist for The New York Post since November 2002. He has won more than fifty major journalism awards since 1989 and has been cited for distinguished writing by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the New York State Publishers Association, and the Poynter Institute. Previously, he has worked as a columnist at The Star-Ledger, Kansas City Star and Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald-Record. He was also sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times, and was appointed to that position in 1991. Vaccaro is a 1989 graduate of St. Bonaventure University. He and his wife, Leigh, live in Hillsdale, New Jersey. Author of Emperors and Idiots: The Hundred Year Rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox, From the Very Beginning to the End of the Curse. and of 1941: The Greatest Year in Sports. For a hundred years, no two teams have locked horns as fiercely or as frequently - and no two seasons frame the colossal battle more perfectly than 2003 and 2004. Now, leading sports columnist Mike Vaccaro chronicles the history of the greatest rivalry in sports, and the two stunning American League Championship Series that define a century of baseball. With the razor-sharp instincts that have made him a top sports journalist, Mike Vaccaro delves into the history of the rollicking rivalry: a vicious collision in 1903 (between the New York Highlanders and Boston Pilgrims) that draws first blood; the era of Babe Ruth and his legendary trade from the Red Sox to the Yankees, ushering in the notorious Curse; the golden age of DiMaggio and Williams; the unstoppable power of Mantle and Maris; the heart and soul of Fisk and Yastrzemski versus Pinella and Munson; and the modern era of dueling owners, skyrocketing payrolls, and a renewed rivalry that attracts sell-out crowds even to Yankees-Red Sox spring training games. EMPERORS AND IDIOTS is as lively, fascinating, and raucous as the teams themselves - a must-have volume for any Yankees or Red Sox fan.