Ed Delahanty in the Emerald Age of Baseball

Rating:
Summary: Scholarly ode to workmanlike 19th-century baseball player
Review: As the author of a later 2004 release, Cap Anson 2: The Theatrical and Kingly Mike Kelly: U.S. Team Sport's First Media Sensation and Baseball's Original Casey at the Bat, I was excited to buy a copy of Jerrold Casway's Ed Delahanty in the Emerald Age of Baseball. Kelly and Delahanty are the first 19th-century Hall of Famers of Irish descent to be the subject of full-length books. Each of ours seeks to be the standard biography of our subjects, and Casway didn't have as much of a head start (Kelly was treated in an 1888 ghostwritten autobiography, the first book about a professional baseball player, and in Marty Appel's 1996 Slide, Kelly, Slide).

In the 1880s, Kelly was to baseball, in a more animated way, what Delahanty was, in a more workmanlike way, in the 1890s. Casway likes social history, and he relates Delahanty's Irishness to the general status of the Irish in 19th-century America (he had written a 1999 essay in the Encyclopedia of the Irish in America entitled "Irish American Factor and the Emerald Age of Baseball"). To make Delahanty's story whole, he has unearthed personable information about Delahanty and his family, and his "Irish Kid from Cleveland" chapter is arguably the most interesting chapter of the book.

I find Casway's book most similar to Reed Browning's about Cy Young, as both were fairly stoic figures or at least covered without great detail to outside interests. A case in point is that Delahanty adored the theater, and even founded a social group featuring athletes, actors and businessmen. But reporting on that great love of his was apparently scant as it is limited to a few pages of the book. Kelly loved the theater as much as Delahanty and, in part because of Kelly's own stage career which included recitations of "Casey at the Bat," a lot more was said about his relationships with theatrical personalities and other players who performed on stage (who thus had a sense of the theatrical), especially Cap Anson and Arlie Latham.

Delahanty's arguably greatest significance was as a power hitter, when leading the league in doubles (which Delahanty did five times) was to batting what leading the league in home runs is today. Casway adequately reflects that aspect of his play while wrapping his career broadly around social history themes. Arguably Delahanty's main appeal today is his mysterious death, and the author is able to write definitively on the subject especially because of a prior book on the subject: Mike Sowell's July 2, 1903.

Rating:
Summary: THE GREAT PHILLIES PLAYER!!!!!!!
Review: ED DELAHANTY-THE ONLY MAN TO WIN THE BATTING TITLE IN BOTH THE NATIONAL AND AMERICAN LEAGUES (1899 AND 1902)WITH THE PHILLIES AND SENATORS DIED A TRAGIC DEATH IN 1903.HE ONCE HIT 4 HOMERS IN A GAME- ALL IN SIDE THE PARKERS! READ THIS BOOK!IT IS GREAT!!!!!!!I HAVE BEEN A PHILLIES FAN FOR 44 YEARS.

Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: Forget the sour grapes of that other review, this is a superb baseball history. It is extemely well researched with an incredible amount of information in a very readable package. Anyone who is truly into baseball history will want this book and will want to know and understand the 19th Century and the players. The sociology of baseball has been the sociology of this country and the early players are the heroes and pioneers who gave us the perfect game of baseball. Buy the book!

Rating:
Summary: Lessons To Be Learned
Review: Jerrold Casway has provided us with an in-depth study of 19th century baseball star Ed Delahanty. Like so many other athletes in his time Delahanty lived for today rather than postpone immediate gratification for a greater future reward. The lure of the racetrack while wintering in New Orleans and later alcohol were contributing factors leading up to the decline of this once great superstar. "The Only Del" toiled for unheralded losing teams such as the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Senators. Baseball wars were on and Delahanty had the problem of not caring how many contracts he signed as long as he played with the team that offered him the most money. I felt the author did a good job of sorting through the possibilities regarding Delahanty's death on the International Bridge crossing the Niagara River between Fort Erie, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York. Delahanty was removed from the train for abusive behavior, and from what information we have available it appears that he stumbled over railroad ties in an effort to elude the bridge watchman. His body was discovered below the Canadian Horseshoe Falls in the Niagara River one week later on July 9th. This was an era in which the owners had it all their way, and players had no financial benefits that today's players enjoy. Players usually reentered the regular workforce once their playing days were over. Delahanty, however, lived lavishly during his playing days without a thought to his post-playing days. Information is also provided on his baseball playing brothers in addition to his wife and daughter after Ed's death. If you enjoy 19th century baseball history I believe this is another book from that colorful age that you will find enjoyable to read.

Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: The book is not only beautiful, but the content is interestingly captivating. It appeals to baseball fans, as well as a general audience.