Blue Ruin: A Novel of the 1919 World Series

by Brendan C. Boyd

In a fictional recreation of the early years of baseball, Boston numbers runner Joseph "Sport" Sullivan convinces players on the White Sox to throw the 1919 World Series

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Sports, Baseball

Hardcover

First published September 1, 1991

Reviews

[Paul Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is the best baseball novel ever written--and I've read just about all of them.

[Rodger Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically a first-person account narrated by "Sport" Sullivan, one of the alleged gamblers who fixed the 1919 World Series. I read a bit of his history online and this book takes liberties with his life story. In any case, it's a creative take on the fix, based on many of the known facts, though much of the story really addresses what a person does after a major dream has been accomplished. If your wishes come true, what's left to life? There were portions of this lengthy post-Series section that were kind of slow, and many of Sullivan's choices seemed obviously bad when he was making them. Even when he learned that people were trying to take some of his cash with dubious propositions, the main character didn't really get angry or show much regret. Sullivan comes alive during his game-by-game betting on the Series, but otherwise seemed to be drifting through life.

[Stuart Shiffman · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a longtime baseball fan and reader of "baseball fiction" I came across this book based upon the 1919 World Series and the fix that was in. The book has its moments but to be honest there is not that much about the series in 1919 or the players themselves. It is more about the fictional character involved in the fix. The story moves slowly, the characters very stereotypical and the entire work just never got me very interested.

[Robert Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different take on the World series fix of 1919. Told from the viewpoint of the fixers, not the guilty players. Long on words (a lot dated) and slow in parts. Still, a good story. Book, Home.

[Randal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hardly treading new ground with a story around the 1919 Chicago Black Sox, Boyd does manage a new angle by focusing heavily on one of the crooked gangsters who made the plot happen, which includes moving much of the action from Chicago to New York state (NYC and Saratoga, IIRC).
I read this before I got around to Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series, which undoubtedly affected my reaction to it. It likely feels pretty derivative to those who started with the latter, celebrated, book / movie.

[Chris Schaffer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had it's moments - the lead up and games played during the 1919 series was good..but overall it fell flat and was long winded and meandering at times. It was helpful to have seen the movie Eight Men Out cause it gives you a glimpse at the characters of Sport Sullivan, the White Sox players and the other key characters such as Comiskey and Landis. It read easily in the middle and then was really plodding toward the end.

[Leonora · Rating 1 out of 5]

way to take an interesting premise (a book from the point of view of the gambler who fixed the 1919 world series) and make it more boring than a bowl of pea soup.

[Frank Chimkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

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