Terry Francona, Theo Epstein, John Farrell and Gary Tuck all piled into a car and drove to Jonathan Papelbon's place in Boston.

The trading deadline was quickly approaching and the Red Sox front office was investigating a trade that would bring Eric Gagne to Boston.

The Sox wanted Gagne to be their closer, figuring his presence would fortify their already strong bullpen. Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon and Eric Gagne, in that order, would shorten games and make the Red Sox the World Series favorite.

The Sox needed to talk to their closer about it.

So the manager, general manager, pitching coach and bullpen coach hopped in a car and headed to Papelbon's for a chat.

It is this type of insight, this type of behind the scenes story that makes "Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston's Rise to Dominance," by Michael Holley a good read.

"Red Sox Rule" isn't your typical season review of a World Series championship team. It is part Terry Francona biography, part inspection of the Red Sox philosophy, part season rewind. Holley not only tells you what happened to the Sox, he tells you how the team came to make up its mind on many decisions.

The most interesting part of this book is getting an inside look at how Francona manages games and his ballclub. I've been known to yell at Francona for the decisions he makes, but sometimes you have to sit back and realize there is a lot more to his decisions than just what you see on the field.

Francona studies the numbers and knows matchups better than we ever give him credit for. He also knows his players and knows how to handle them. He isn't afraid to let his clubhouse leaders be clubhouse leaders. Actually, it is quite apparent from reading "Red Sox Rule" that Francona relies on his clubhouse leaders. He gives them a lot of responsibility and asks a lot out of them.

Francona relies on different guys for different things. In the book, Holley tells a story of how once Francona become so annoyed by Sox slugger Manny Ramirez he told Ortiz, "I'm going to kill him." Papi said he'd check on Ramirez, returned shortly and told Francona, "It's OK to kill him now."

Holley also takes us inside what made Francona the manager he is. He writes about Francona's childhood growing up around the game and his playing career. Francona had the talent to be a star in the big leagues, but injuries derailed his career.

A stint managing Michael Jordan, when the former Chicago Bulls star tried baseball, taught Francona a lot about dealing with personalities in the clubhouse. He actually relied on Jordan, certainly not the best player on the Birmingham Barons, to do a lot of policing in the clubhouse that summer.

We are also given a fairly detailed account of the miserable offseason of 2002, which Francona spent having surgery after surgery, eight in all. Francona became ill while interviewing for the Seattle Mariners managing job and was in and out of the hospital for weeks, near death.

It was fascinating to read about the organization's trip to Papelbon's place to discuss the Gagne trade with him. Imagine that. A team taking to heart the feelings and the mindset of a player -- who also happens to be one of the best young pitchers in baseball -- before making a move. Papelbon told the club he wasn't comfortable with the move and wanted to remain a closer. The Sox said OK and went to work finding a way to bring Gagne to Boston in a setup role.

"Red Sox Rule" isn't as in depth as Holley's previous best-seller "Patriot Reign" but it gives you a much better idea of who Francona is than "Reign" told you about Bill Belichick.

"Red Sox Rule" was a quick read, brought back some good memories and gave some good insight into how the Sox operate.

Scott Martin -- 621-5618

smartin@centralmaine.com