One Strike Away: THe Story of the 1986 Red Sox

by Dan Shaughnessy

Book by Shaughnessy, Dan

Genres: Sports, Baseball, Nonfiction

261 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Dan Shaughnessy is an award-winning columnist for the Boston Globe and the author of several sports books, including The Curse of the Bambino, a best-selling classic. Seven times Shaughnessy has been voted one of America’s top ten sports columnists by Associated Press Sports Editors and named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year. He has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Early Show, CNN, Nightline, NPR, Imus in the Morning, ESPN, HBO, and many others. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Alex Sarmiento · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shaughnessy doesn’t just report the 1986 Red Sox collapse—he inhabits the agony. One strike from salvation, then Buckner’s error, and Boston’s 68-year drought feels eternal. Written in the raw aftermath, the book captures the specific, generational pain of Red Sox fandom: the silence after Clemens’ blister, the bar TVs turned off in mercy, the city’s faith quietly dying. No blame, no hindsight—just the cold, perfect sting of hope betrayed. A requiem for every fan who believed, and lost.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, the pain...