Had enough of the Red Sox–Yankees rivalry yet? Wouldn’t surprise me a bit if you had. But in the midst of the four-game series between the two foes that kicks off the season’s second half, it’s worth directing you to a fine work that’s been out since spring training. It presents an interesting take on the rivalry and how it played out in dramatic fashion in the 2004 season.

Oh, I know there’s plenty of Red Sox–review books out there — at least two dozen, at last count — but A Tale of Two Cities: The 2004 Yankees–Red Sox Rivalry and the War for the Pennant (Lyons Press) is one of the better ones (and according to Sox owner John Henry, the one he’ll eventually direct his young daughter toward when she’s old enough to understand). Like the Stephen King–Stewart O’Nan collaboration Faithful, Tony Massarotti and John Harper’s Tale of Two Cities was sprung out of a literary idea hatched prior to the 2004 season, whereas two established writers would separately keep a running diary of the baseball season and hope for the best: that the ultimate ending would make such a publication worthwhile. Massarotti, the baseball columnist for the Boston Herald, and Harper, in the same capacity for the New York Daily News, are long-time playful rivals in the press box and decided to look at the rivalry, circa 2004, from their respective positions covering the individual teams. For each of the developments that took place throughout the off-season and season (the Curt Schilling acquisition, the A-Rod negotiations, the July 24th brouhaha, and obviously, the fateful post-season match-up), the two writers took turns writing chapters from their city’s point of view, then combined for some "head-to-head" chapters that presented intertwined perspectives.

Red Sox and Yankee fans have always assumed that they and their favored teams are viewed disparagingly by the other side, and Tale confirms that and expounds upon it. Not surprisingly, Harper validates the premise that the Yankees and their backers look with disdain on the anything-goes antics of the Red Sox squad, and mock the whole concept of "Red Sox Nation" and the heretofore annual inability of Boston to win when it counted. The Pinstripers, with their corporate attitude, clean-shaven grooming, and 26 championships, are presented in stark contrast to the seemingly run-amok antics of the local nine and manager Terry "Boys Will Be Boys" Francona. Joe Torre, of course, would never put up with such nonsense.

Of course, the deep-seated hatred between the two teams goes way back, but Harper also does a good job of portraying why former Sox hurler Pedro Martinez took his rightful place as public enemy number one during his tumultuous career in Boston. Harper also outlines the complicated welcome received by A-Rod by the New York fandom and in the clubhouse, and how he was viewed before and after the infamous showdown with Jason Varitek at Fenway in late June.

Boston fans will react with glee when they find out that golden boy Derek Jeter, for all his on-field heroics, is a sullen and cliché-spouting robot to the media, with a condescending attitude and a general disdain for the Fourth Estate. To wit:

[Jeter] has kept reporters at such arm’s length that after nine seasons, not even the beat writers feel like they know him. He almost never acknowledges reporters by name, and some guys who have been on the Yankees’ beat for years swear he doesn’t know their names.

Harper’s profiles of clubhouse loners like Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, and Kevin Brown also make it clear that chemistry — such an integral component to last year’s Red Sox–championship team — is in short supply in the Yankees clubhouse.

Massarotti’s insights are no less interesting regarding Boston’s cast of characters, but given the locals’ familiarity with the Sox’ roster and the climate surrounding the team, there’s not quite as many surprises or "dirt" in the Herald scribe’s contributions.

It’s also interesting to note that Harper views the Boston sportswriters covering the team as borderline "homers," who have such an inbred devotion to the team that they have a more difficult time taking unbiased positions when it comes to writing about it. Harper, for his part, claims he no longer holds any allegiance to the Bronx Bombers, ever since he witnessed as a cub reporter how "Craig [sic] Nettles and Thurman Munson could be so rude and crude in dealing with the press." Any other personal rooting interest that Harper may have had took severe beatings thereafter once he had to regularly deal with the temperamental antics of former manager Billy Martin and principal owner George Steinbrenner.

There’s lots of good stuff from both corners throughout the book, and as Harper joked in a recent writers’ luncheon at Fenway, "It’s selling a lot better [in Boston] than in New York." The turn of events that produced the surprising "happy ending" for Bostonians assured that, but Tale of Two Cities is a revealing portrait of both teams — and will provide Yankee-haters with even more ammunition, should that be in short supply.

Sporting Eye runs Mondays and Fridays at BostonPhoenix.com, and Christopher Young can be reached at cyoung[a]phx.com