Bitter Rivalry 101

YANKEES SUCK!
By Jim Gerard
Chamberlain, 197 pages, $9.95

Jealousy, according to Shakespeare, is a green-eyed monster that mocks "the meat it feeds on." He meant that Red Sox fans who scream, " Yankees suck!" succeed only in making themselves look like ... well, idiots. In the same spirit, this unfunny compendium of envy and spite ranges from the vicious to the inane. For instance, Gerard argues that David Wells's boorishness is one reason the Yankees suck, which raises the question: Since Wells now toils for Boston, do the Red Sox suck too?

BAT BOY
By Matthew McGough
Doubleday, 240 pages, $22.95

It's not just about the bats! It's also about buffing the spikes, arranging the cold cuts and making a potato cannon with Matt Nokes. And yet there's a disarming innocence about Bat Boy that makes it fun to read. The author assumes so earnestly that someone will care about his experiences as a Yankees batboy that you find yourself wanting to be that person. And why not? The Red Sox are world champs, Leigh Montville can fly--anything is possible! ?