On April 26, 1901, the newly formed Boston Americans began play in baseball’s American League. The first home game in franchise history was on May 8, 1901, at the Huntington Avenue Grounds where it was 635 feet from home plate to straight away center field.

The Huntington Avenue Grounds was also the site of the first World Series in baseball’s modern era, won by the Boston Americans over the Pittsburgh Pirates in eight games, as that first series was a best-of-nine affair.

Boston officially became the Red Sox in 1908. Four years later the team christened a new ballpark in fine fashion. On April 20, 1912, the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 7-6 in the first game ever played at Fenway Park—and then the club set a franchise record for wins, claimed another pennant, and won a second World Series title.

It was a good year, but there were even better years to come—and of course, some heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, agonizingly painful years as well.

And that is why the history of the Boston Red Sox is so compelling.

In Red Sox history, baseball fans get the absolute best moments the game has to offer: Cy Young’s perfect game, Ted Williams’ historic 1941 season, the Triple Crown seasons for Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski, Roger Clemens twice striking out 20 batters, the batting titles for Wade Boggs, Dave Henderson saving the Red Sox against Donnie Moore and the Angels, Carlton Fisk waving his ball fair, Bernie Carbo hitting a pair of pinch-hit homers in the World Series, Fred Lynn winning Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors in the same season, and all the meaningful games against the New York Yankees, just for starters.

Of course, in Red Sox history, Boston fans are fully aware how painful and tragic some of the most compelling moments are: Joe Morgan in 1975, the 1978 collapse, and then Bucky Dent in the 1978 playoff, Bill Buckner in 1986, and of course, Aaron Boone in 2003.

Today’s fans, however, celebrate the miracle that was the 2004 postseason—and any baseball fan who picks up this book will celebrate with them, because these pages contain the greatest moments, players, legends, and teams from one of the most celebrated sports franchises in the world.

The biggest names from every era are all here: Young, Speaker, Cronin, Ruth, Williams, Doerr, Pesky, DiMaggio, Yastrzemski, Fisk, Rice, Evans, Lynn, Clemens, Boggs, Ortiz, Varitek, Ramirez, and Pedroia, just to name a few.

Every Hall of Famer from Red Sox history is in this book—as is every award winner, the greatest performances in franchise history, the postseason triumphs and heartaches, the fan favorite players who never became stars, all the glory, the passion, and emotion that the greatest moments in Red Sox history evoke are all here in this Sports by the Numbers title.

Now available: Boston Red Sox: An Interactive Guide to the World of Sports (Volume 1)