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Fenway Punk: How a Boston Indie Label Scored Big on Baseball’s Greatest Rivalry
An audacious and inspiring debut social history that explores how entrepreneurial members of the tight-knit hardcore punk scene within the vibrant heart of Boston cashed in on one baseball's greatest rivalries. For eighty-six years Boston Red Sox baseball fans lived in the shadow of their rivals, the New York Yankees, who more or less dominated the sport each season. Red Sox fans grew dejected as their team often got close, but ultimately would be eliminated from contention each year as New York went on to win yet another World Series championship. Author Chris Wrenn, a member of the Boston hardcore punk scene, had a dream of his own—to start his own record label. Embracing the do-it-yourself ethos of the scene, Chris set out to make it happen, networking and forging relationships with local bands. But such an endeavor required money he didn't have . . . until he and his friends heard a familiar phrase echo out of Fenway Park, the home field of the Red Sox. The phrase “Yankees Suck!” was chanted at every single Red Sox game. Possessing the wherewithal to produce inexpensive merchandise and the free time to stake a claim to the sidewalks outside the baseball stadium, Chris and his crew of punks began a lucrative endeavor of selling “Yankees Suck” merchandise such as stickers and T-shirts to the fans. While navigating cops, competitors, a violent gang, and in-fighting within the crew, Wrenn and his friends turned Boston's rivalry into "six-figure summers," affording him the capital to launch Bridge Nine Records and bring local Boston hardcore bands including American Nightmare and Have Heart to stages worldwide just as the Red Sox got closer than ever to finally winning the World Series again. A rousing story of entrepreneurship and ingenuity that also reveals fresh insight into one of the most epic rivalries in sports history, Fenway Punk is a gripping read for both fans of punk music and readers of Ben Mezrich, Lizzy Goodman, and Chuck Klosterman.
- GenresAudiobook
240 pages, Hardcover
Published February 10, 2026
13 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 3, 2026
Alright kid, throw on your Sox cap, pop open a Sammy and grab a dirty water dog. We are taking a trip back to the late 90’s on Landsdowne Street, right outside the big green monstah. It’s time to sell some t-shirts. This is the story of some enterprising punk kids who sold Red Sox inspired gear to fund a record label. Well written, humorous and touching. This is a great read and highly recommended.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Name a subculture. To people outside of it, it means nothing. To people involved, it is everything. I witnessed this book firsthand. Having grown up in Central Mass, graduating in 2003, and attending college in Boston, the Boston Hardcore scene was very much a part of my world. Reading this felt like stepping into a time capsule.
It brought me right back to September 13, 2003, at the ICC in Allston. I had spent two months in the hospital following a car accident exactly two years prior, and I spent that night sitting on top of a piano watching Bane, Comeback Kid, Mental, and The Promise. That feeling of belonging and purpose was exactly what I needed at that moment in my life.
Whether it’s this or King’s Faithful, I will consume any perspective on the Red Sox 2004 World Series season. Wrenn’s ability to switch from descriptive storytelling to historical recollection is seamless. He captures the balance of Boston outside Fenway in the fall perfectly. The description of Have Heart’s last show and the afterword were particularly emotional - they perfectly captured what made that era and that scene so special.
I listened to the audiobook from Hachette on an ALC. The narration was solid, though it tripped me up slightly because my edge friends always put the emphasis on the "straight" versus the "edge," but that’s a minor regional detail in an otherwise great performance.
Wrenn doesn’t just document a subculture; he bottles the lightning of a very specific era in Boston’s history. For anyone who felt the belonging and purpose of the Massachusetts hardcore scene or lived through the magic of the 2004 Sox season, this isn't just a book - it’s a time capsule. A seamless blend of grit, nostalgia, and historical recollection.
It brought me right back to September 13, 2003, at the ICC in Allston. I had spent two months in the hospital following a car accident exactly two years prior, and I spent that night sitting on top of a piano watching Bane, Comeback Kid, Mental, and The Promise. That feeling of belonging and purpose was exactly what I needed at that moment in my life.
Whether it’s this or King’s Faithful, I will consume any perspective on the Red Sox 2004 World Series season. Wrenn’s ability to switch from descriptive storytelling to historical recollection is seamless. He captures the balance of Boston outside Fenway in the fall perfectly. The description of Have Heart’s last show and the afterword were particularly emotional - they perfectly captured what made that era and that scene so special.
I listened to the audiobook from Hachette on an ALC. The narration was solid, though it tripped me up slightly because my edge friends always put the emphasis on the "straight" versus the "edge," but that’s a minor regional detail in an otherwise great performance.
Wrenn doesn’t just document a subculture; he bottles the lightning of a very specific era in Boston’s history. For anyone who felt the belonging and purpose of the Massachusetts hardcore scene or lived through the magic of the 2004 Sox season, this isn't just a book - it’s a time capsule. A seamless blend of grit, nostalgia, and historical recollection.
February 14, 2026
More personal memoir than music/business of music history, this one was a bit of a mixed bag for me.
As someone who is very into both music and baseball, I was really interested in Wrenn’s story and how these things intersect in it. We do get a lot of baseball nostalgia here (especially fun if you’re fond of the Red Sox), but disappointingly little music.
Wrenn tells us a lot about the t-shirts he made to fund his label, but not much about the label itself, its bands, or hardcore punk in general. Most of the related content is personal stories, which are much more related to the scene than the music, and mostly of the “guess you had to be there” variety. There’s a lot of “remember that one fight we got in and also these 30 other fights” and “hey remember when my random friend said something sooo funny” except that it’s not that funny when it’s not your personal random friend.
This sort of memoirish content doesn’t appeal, and I found myself wishing this person who clearly loves music spent more time talking about that, or at least more about the details of how he made the business of his label work.
Still, Wrenn is a likable enough narrator, and he does a good job on the baseball-related sections of the book. Fellow Boston residents will find some fun nostalgia here, and it’s easy to root for Wrenn on his journey.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
As someone who is very into both music and baseball, I was really interested in Wrenn’s story and how these things intersect in it. We do get a lot of baseball nostalgia here (especially fun if you’re fond of the Red Sox), but disappointingly little music.
Wrenn tells us a lot about the t-shirts he made to fund his label, but not much about the label itself, its bands, or hardcore punk in general. Most of the related content is personal stories, which are much more related to the scene than the music, and mostly of the “guess you had to be there” variety. There’s a lot of “remember that one fight we got in and also these 30 other fights” and “hey remember when my random friend said something sooo funny” except that it’s not that funny when it’s not your personal random friend.
This sort of memoirish content doesn’t appeal, and I found myself wishing this person who clearly loves music spent more time talking about that, or at least more about the details of how he made the business of his label work.
Still, Wrenn is a likable enough narrator, and he does a good job on the baseball-related sections of the book. Fellow Boston residents will find some fun nostalgia here, and it’s easy to root for Wrenn on his journey.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Do I listen to hardcore punk? No. Do I watch much baseball? Also, no. But my husband has been in a punk band his entire adult life and is a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan, and lover of all things baseball. Since I'm the avid reader of the family, I felt it was my duty to read a book that feels like it was written for him.
Let me start by saying, if you're a punk fan or a Red Sox fan, you're going to love this book. It has a very nostalgic feel, and Chris Wren does a great job of detailing the punk scene throughout the 90's and 2000's. We also get a lot of good play-by-plays of Red Sox games. As someone unfamiliar with either topic, I feel Wrenn did a great job of detailing the events and culture of the time.
I listened to this on audio, Chris Ciulla did a great job and kept me engaged throughout the book.
Thank you, NetGalley and Hachette Audio, for this ALC.
Let me start by saying, if you're a punk fan or a Red Sox fan, you're going to love this book. It has a very nostalgic feel, and Chris Wren does a great job of detailing the punk scene throughout the 90's and 2000's. We also get a lot of good play-by-plays of Red Sox games. As someone unfamiliar with either topic, I feel Wrenn did a great job of detailing the events and culture of the time.
I listened to this on audio, Chris Ciulla did a great job and kept me engaged throughout the book.
Thank you, NetGalley and Hachette Audio, for this ALC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Mildly interesting, if slight, memoir from a t-shirt/sticker/punk rock record company entrepreneur. There really isn’t an awful lot of drama to either the history of the t-shirt/sticker business or the record label, so be prepared for lots of in-depth discussion of the late 90s/early aughts Red Sox games. If you’re a fan of that era in both the Boston hardcore punk scene and the Red Sox you’ll love this.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews