Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway's Remarkable First Year

A 2012 Top Ten Sports Book as selected by Booklist, winner of the 2011 Seymour Medal and Larry Ritter Award from the Society for American Baseball Research, and finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award for nonfiction, Fenway 1912 is the remarkable story of Fenway's very first year.

Even people who aren't fans of baseball know Fenway Park. More than just a ballpark, it is a part of American culture, and has been for nearly one hundred years. From the long winter when locals poured concrete and built the park, to the ragtag Red Sox team that embarked on a journey to the World Series while the paint was still drying and the grass still coming in, Stout tells the stories behind the park's notorious quirks like the Green Monster, and of the designers, builders, managers, and players who made Fenway's first year unforgettable.

For all that has been written in tribute to the great Fenway Park, no one has ever really told the behind-the-scenes true story. Drawing on extensive new research, the esteemed baseball historian Glenn Stout delivers an extraordinary tale of innovation, desperation, and perspiration—capturing Fenway as never before.

What did it take to build an American icon and forge a championship team in a single, unforgettable year?

• Fenway Park History: Go behind the scenes of the ballpark's construction, from the first concrete pour in a long Boston winter to the origin story of the Green Monster.
• A Championship Season: Follow the ragtag 1912 Red Sox, a team divided by internal feuds, on their improbable journey from underdogs to champions.
• The 1912 World Series: Relive the dramatic World Series against John McGraw's New York Giants, a clash of titans that cemented the legacies of players like Tris Speaker and Joe Wood.
• Meticulously Researched True Story: Discover an extraordinary tale of innovation and desperation, brought to life through extensive new research by esteemed baseball historian Glenn Stout.

"Stout imbues his account with a unique vibrancy and a razor-sharp intelligence. A wonderful sports book." -- Booklist, starred review "A valuable addition to baseball history . . . Baseball diehards and historians, and of course Red Sox fans, will find much of interest in this paean to one of sport’s most famous venues." -- Kirkus Reviews "Fun and informative . . . A well-constructed tribute to Fenway on its upcoming 100th anniversary." -- Publishers Weekly"This is a book for anyone who cares about the storied Boston Red Sox, about their 100-year-old bandbox of a stadium, about the remarkable championship season of 1912, about the street-level history of Boston, and about why baseball will forever be the all-American pastime. This is a book for all of us." – Larry Tye, author of SATCHEL: The Life and Times of an American Legend "Glenn Stout has done the impossible: he has put an end to the seemingly bottomless genre that is Fenway Park books. We now need no more. We get not pomp and circumstance, but the bones and blueprint of a legendary ballpark — topped with a star-filled World Series that still endures. He doesn’t pretend history is straw hats and cigars, but gives you real people, real baseball and (the best part) real Boston, the way any real writer should." – Howard Bryant, ESPN, and author of The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron