''78' chronicles turmoil in Boston

"'78: The Boston Red Sox, a Historic Game, and a Divided City," by Bill Reynolds, New American Library, $24.95

Author Bill Reynolds has written a book that on first glance looks to be about baseball, but on closer examination it is really about a tumultuous era punctuated by violent clashes over integrated school busing.

Reynolds does a remarkable job enlightening readers about Boston's neighborhoods in 1978 and the social, racial and economic conflicts that were tearing the city, or parts of it, apart.

In fact, the title may give readers the expectation that this playoff game soothed the psyche of the city, when in actuality the game is simply an entry point into a larger story.

The book sports a rich and diverse cast of characters that a fiction writer could only dream about.

The baseball players that met on the diamond for that game were some of the greats — Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson, Carlton Fisk and Thurman Munson.

But Reynolds enlightens the reader about other athletes who were remarkable in their day but who aren't talked about as much, such as Jim Rice and George Scott Jr.

A reading of the book also puts the Boston baseball franchise's recent success in better perspective.

But the book doesn't just focus on baseball players; it looks at politicians such as Ted Kennedy, writers such as Peter Gammons and musicians such Bruce Springsteen, all of whom rose up during that time.

The playoff game between the Boston Red Sox and their hated rival — the New York Yankees — provides a dramatic thread linking all the events in the years that led up to the classic clash of the titans.

Readers mostly interested in sports in general and the game specifically may be disappointed by the lack of detailed events on the field.

But those willing to go outside Fenway Park and into the neighborhoods of Boston will get quite a treat as they get a glimpse of a world where ordinary citizens do battle in their daily lives instead of a battle between pitchers and hitters.

Reynolds hasn't written a great sports book, but he has taken an excellent historic snapshot and drawn a great sports moment into its frame.

E-mail: lc@desnews.com