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Fifty-nine in '84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had Paperback – February 22, 2011

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 266 ratings

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"First-class narrative history that can stand with everything Steven Ambrose wrote. . . . Achorn's description of the utter insanity that was barehanded baseball is vivid and alive." —Boston Globe

“A beautifully written, meticulously researched story about a bygone baseball era that even die-hard fans will find foreign, and about a pitcher who might have been the greatest of all time.” — Joseph J. Ellis, Pulitzer prize-winning historian

In 1884 Providence Grays pitcher Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn won an astounding fifty-nine games—more than anyone in major-league history ever had before, or has since. He then went on to win all three games of baseball's first World Series.

Fifty-nine in '84 tells the dramatic story not only of that amazing feat of grit but also of big-league baseball two decades after the Civil War—a brutal, bloody sport played barehanded, the profession of uneducated, hard-drinking men who thought little of cheating outrageously or maiming an opponent to win.

Wonderfully entertaining, Fifty-nine in '84 is an indelible portrait of a legendary player and a fascinating, little-known era of the national pastime.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"First-class narrative history that can stand with everything Steven Ambrose wrote. . . . Achorn's description of the utter insanity that was barehanded baseball is vivid and alive." — Boston Globe

“All fans of baseball, all fans of a good story, will love this book. With clear and colorful prose, Edward Achorn has told the marvelous suspense-filled story of Charles Radbourn’s 1884 season as a baseball pitcher. In the process Achorn has recreated not just the rough and tough baseball world of “Old Hoss” Radbourn, perhaps the greatest pitcher who ever lived, but also the raucous society and the money-mad culture that sustained the wild and wooly and rapidly developing game of nineteenth-century baseball. Once you’ve read this book, you won’t forget it.” — Professor Gordon Wood, Pulitzer and Bancroft Prize Winner, Department of History, Brown University

"Beautifully written and impeccably researched. . . the best book out there on 19th-century baseball. Old Hoss Radbourn would be pleased that he is finally getting his due—and angry that it took so long." — Cait Murphy, author of CRAZY '08

“This is a beautifully written, meticulously researched story about a bygone baseball era that even die-hard fans will find foreign, and about a pitcher who might have been the greatest of all time.” — Joseph J. Ellis, Pulitzer prize-winning historian

“Baseball historians and anyone interested in the give and take of everyday life in America in the tumultuous twenty or thirty years after the Civil War will be fascinated by the extraordinary detail unearthed by Edward Achorn for his monumental biography of Charley (Old Hoss) Radbourne, who for at least a few years was probably the greatest pitcher every to play professional baseball, and who for all his life was a truculent, fiercely independent character.” — Robert W. Creamer, author of Babe: The Legend Comes to Life and Stengel: His Life and Times

"Make room, Satchel and Cy, Walter, Grover and Roger. In a game where winning is everything, Old Hoss Radbourn did more of it than any of you in that magical season of 1884. But don’t believe me. Travel back there with Ed Achorn, who makes Old Hoss’ case for greatness in a book that passionately evokes a forgotten era and convincingly rewrites our list of the most accomplished pitchers ever." — Larry Tye, author of Satchel

From the Back Cover

In 1884, Providence Grays pitcher Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn won an astounding fifty-nine games—more than anyone in major-league history ever had before, or has since. He then went on to win all three games of baseball's first World Series.

Fifty-nine in '84 tells the dramatic story not only of that amazing feat of grit but also of big-league baseball two decades after the Civil War—a brutal, bloody sport played barehanded, the profession of uneducated, hard-drinking men who thought little of cheating outrageously or maiming an opponent to win. Wonderfully entertaining, Fifty-nine in '84 is an indelible portrait of a legendary player and a fascinating, little-known era of the national pastime.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial (February 22, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061825875
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061825873
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 1.02 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 266 ratings

About the author

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Edward Achorn
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Edward Achorn, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Distinguished Commentary, is the deputy editorial pages editor of The Providence (R.I.) Journal. (Reach him at eachorn@projo.com and please check out www.EdwardAchorn.com). He has won numerous writing awards and his work appears in Best Newspaper Writing, 2007-2008 (CQ Press). Achorn's reviews of books about American history appear frequently in the Weekly Standard.

Achorn's "must read" weekly columns sometimes touch on baseball history, but usually center on the weird and contentious politics of Rhode Island. He inspired revolutionary change in the state's Constitution, championing an amendment that balanced power and put an end to a 340-year legacy of inordinate control by the legislature. Pulitzer judges cited his "clear, tenacious call to action against government corruption in Rhode Island," while Common Cause Rhode Island declared: "Ed Achorn's clear trumpet turned the tide in this historic battle."

A diehard Red Sox fan descended from generations of baseball cranks, Achorn grew up in Westborough, Mass. He attended the 1967 World Series, witnessed Carl Yastrzemski's 3,000th hit and saw all four games of the legdenday 1975 World Series at Fenway Park, including Game Six, when Carlton Fisk "waved" his home run fair. His grandfather and grandmother, both Boston Braves fanatics, attended the 1914 World Series (also at Fenway).

As a child in Westborough, Ed was astonished to discover that the nearby city of Worcester once had a major-league baseball team. Thus began a lifelong quest to learn more about 19th century baseball--to put flesh on the strange names and statistics found in the Baseball Encyclopedia, none more incredible than Radbourn's 59 wins in one season.

He quickly found there was much more to the story than has yet appeared in books. His intensive search took him to the Library of Congress, the Baseball Hall of Fame Library, the Chicago Historical Society, the Rhode Island Historical Society, and numerous other institutions where he pored over primary sources and thousands of daily accounts of baseball in period newspapers. He also spent many nights hunched over a microfilm reading machine in the newspaper's library and at the Rhode Island Historical Society. (An original painting of the Hoss hangs in his fourth-floor office.)

He has worked closely with the members of the Providence Grays Vintage Baseball Club, a modern team that plays under 1884 rules and with 1884 equipment (or lack thereof), to better understand the experience of baseball in those times.

He lectures about the major-league Providence Grays and Rhode Island corruption as a featured speaker for the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. He is a member of SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research.

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4.5 out of 5 stars
266 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book an interesting read about baseball history. They appreciate the well-researched and documented story. The writing style is described as great, mixing descriptions of games with colorful historical anecdotes. Overall, customers describe the visual style as intriguing and paint a vivid picture of what life was like in the 19th Century.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

32 customers mention "Readability"32 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and engaging. They describe it as a great read for anyone interested in early baseball history. The book is well-written and a quality look back at the early days of baseball.

"...One of the better baseball books I have read, couldn't recommend it highly enough, and really am looking forward to reading Edward Achorn other book..." Read more

"...style, at times, is maddening, overall it's a very good book and worth reading. Especially if you are a baseball or baseball history fan...." Read more

"A great read for anyone interested in the early history of baseball. Meticulously researched but not to the point of pedantry." Read more

"...Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn became one of the greatest pitchers as well one of the most eccentric personalities during an era largely forgotten by..." Read more

32 customers mention "Story quality"32 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's story. They find it an engaging read about baseball history and life in the late 19th century. The book provides an entertaining social history of America in the 1880s through the lens of professional baseball. It offers a fascinating look into the life and times of Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourne.

"...Providence, R.I. was king of the baseball world for this glorious season in which Radbourne did something historic that will never be done again...." Read more

"...It took me back to 1884, which is something I would want in a book like this. The best part of this book is the history, without a doubt...." Read more

"...-Nine in `84" is more than just a sports story - it's a fascinating picture of life in America in 1884 in Providence, Rhode Island, and of one man's..." Read more

"Fifty-Nine in '84 is an excellent telling of the story of a man who would become one of baseball's first 300-game winners as well as one of its..." Read more

12 customers mention "Research quality"12 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the well-researched and documented book about early baseball. They find the subject amazing and appreciate the author's effort.

"...His research is deep and it shows that some things will never be uncovered as at times he has to presume or assume certain things, but makes sure to..." Read more

"...Meticulously researched but not to the point of pedantry." Read more

"This is another of Mr. Achorn’s meticulously researched books in which he provides detailed accounts of baseball in 1884, particularly about Charles..." Read more

"...Old Hoss Radbourn and his teammates provide for a great topic for a book and I would recommend this book to hardcore baseball historians...." Read more

8 customers mention "Writing style"8 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the writing style of the book. They find it well-written, mixing descriptions of games with colorful historical anecdotes. The author provides detailed accounts of baseball in 1884, particularly about Charles. They can easily picture the stadiums, players, uniforms, pitches, and outs by the pitchers.

"...I could easily picture the stadiums, the players, the uniforms, the pitches and outs by the way it was written...." Read more

"...Achorn’s meticulously researched books in which he provides detailed accounts of baseball in 1884, particularly about Charles (Old Hoss) Radbourn...." Read more

"...Achorn has done a masteful job mixing descriptions of games with colorful historical anectodes about life in the rough times of the 1880's...." Read more

"Well written book on baseball history." Read more

6 customers mention "Visual style"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's visual style engaging. It provides an intriguing look at baseball in 1884, with colorful historical anecdotes about life in the rough times. The descriptions of games and tableaus transport readers back to a time.

"...The research in this book is quite good. It really paints a good picture not only of what baseball was like in 1884, but what life was like in those..." Read more

"...has done a masteful job mixing descriptions of games with colorful historical anectodes about life in the rough times of the 1880's...." Read more

"This book provides a very intriguing look at what can only be described as one of the most unbelievable seasons in baseball history...." Read more

"...He paints with words a multi-chromatic tableau that transports us (gently at first) back to a time when a feat like this was possible...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2013
    I have always wanted to read this book and I finally purchased it recently . I share the same hometown (Bloomington,Il) and much of my family (as well as myself eventually) is buried within shouting distance of Hoss himself at Evergreen Cemetery in Bloomington, Illinois. I have also heard the legend of the player and so my interest was high. This book is one of the not too many that covers a long forgotten era of baseball history that seems to be completely overlooked as many assume that the modern game much have started at the first official AL NL World Series in about 1903. It gets about the same treatment as the NFL before the Super Bowl, which makes no sense to me but that's a whole nother debate. I have read many baseball books that were quite boring despite the subject matter because the author writes the book as some kind of narrative, never deviating from the main subject . They read like newspaper accounts and not good reads. This author brilliantly blended together a picture of life after the Civil War, before automobiles, and during the industrial pollution days before 1900. It paints a picture of the hard times for many and shows why the players were the way they were for the most part, tough. The players were under the unjust reserve clause in these days and at the whims of their team owners at the risk of being blackballed from future employment . Even in those days, the ballplayers made a much better living than a lot of the working stiffs that toiled long hours in the factories or fields. The book shows the constant toil and boredom of being a player before 4 star hotels and air travel made the world a much smaller place. In this era Chicago was like going to the other end of the earth from Boston by train. The book also details Hoss love affair with a local "house" operator and the role that played in his career decisions and life. But above all, this was a story about a team of players that can be seen as the ultimate underdogs, coming from a city much smaller than their league counterparts in NY and Boston, Providence RI., but still triumphing over them on the field in one magic season. Providence, R.I. was king of the baseball world for this glorious season in which Radbourne did something historic that will never be done again. He won 58 games, plus three postseason against a rival league, and singlehandedly pitched day after day , despite excruciating arm pain, and won game after game after game to secure the pennant . This feat, in my opinion, trumps all the other more hyped modern feats of DiMaggio's Hitting streak , Williams .400 average , etc. So, in short, for both baseball lovers and history lovers , this is a great read , about a subject and an era of baseball history that seems to have been long forgotten by most. One of the better baseball books I have read, couldn't recommend it highly enough, and really am looking forward to reading Edward Achorn other book on this era, that deals with another baseball character named Chris Von Der Ahe , a team owner.
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2011
    If you are a baseball fan -- especially of the history of the game -- this book is for you.

    This is the tale of Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn(e), who pitched the Providence Grays to the National League pennant in 1884. That he did that wasn't just the story, however. It's of how he took the Grays upon his back and carried them to the championship by winning 59 games (or 60, pending on sources) during the regular season. Despite pain and without the courtesy of modern training regimens, Old Hoss did something likely never to be duplicated in the game of baseball. (Or, base ball, as it was known back then).

    Edward Achorn takes us through a bit of Radbourn's career, but specifically the 1884 season. His writing style is interesting, especially as he shows a bit of the 1884 "sportswriter" way of doing things. His research is deep and it shows that some things will never be uncovered as at times he has to presume or assume certain things, but makes sure to point out things like that. It was, after all, 1884 and I'm quite sure certain things were not recorded as they are today.

    Achorn takes us through Radbourn's battled with fellow star pitcher Charlie Sweeney and manager Frank Bancroft. He gives us glimpses of some of Radbourn's colorful teammates, such as catcher Barney Gilligan and first baseman Joe Start. In fact, Achorn gives us a solid glance for most of the 1884 Grays, showing some interesting folks along the way. He also does a good job in showing some great battles Radbourn and the Grays had with heated rivals the Boston Beaneaters and Chicago White Stockings (who would, eventually, become the Cubs).

    Old Hoss Radbourn was quite a character. Quiet and trying to stay out of the limelight, he was something else and he's portrayed well in this book. The reader really gets a chance to dig into this person and get to know him as well as possible, considering he died before the turn of the century into the 1900s.

    If you love baseball history, this book is probably something you could delve into. It's filled with interesting things from the game's early years.

    Now for my thoughts...

    THE GOOD

    I had been looking forward to reading this book for a while. I finally ponied up and got it for my Kindle (though I think a hard copy might be better, considering some of the items Achorn has picked out to have as images. Some of the things were hard to read on the Kindle, such as scorecards and such, but that's not Achorn's fault by any means).

    The research in this book is quite good. It really paints a good picture not only of what baseball was like in 1884, but what life was like in those times. Things weren't easy. Baseball wasn't easy. With no gloves, it was quite tough to play the game. Especially being as the National League, at that point, had switched to the new pitching rule to allow overhand delivery. Catchers took a beating. Players took a beating.

    This book shows all of that.

    The descriptions of the players, rivals and game was excellent. I could easily picture the stadiums, the players, the uniforms, the pitches and outs by the way it was written. It took me back to 1884, which is something I would want in a book like this.

    The best part of this book is the history, without a doubt. The game as it is today is nothing compared to 1884. It really shows one what the game has done over time to blossom and grow. If I could hop into a time machine and morph back to 1884 to watch a game between Boston and Providence at Messer Street Grounds, I feel I would be aptly prepared because of this book. I would gladly pay 50 cents to watch that game.

    THE BAD

    The book tends to get jumpy at times. With quite long chapters, Achorn bounces around a bit in each one. He'll start on something, which will then lead to a side story or two. Then, he'll pop back to the original story. At times, it got confusing and frustrating to read this style. It might have been good to have some sub-titles and such inside the chapters, just to break it up a little. I liked the side stories, don't get me wrong, I just didn't like that it seemed at times that they just showed up etc.

    And this might be the journalist/English teacher in me, but sometimes the writer would use a quote and say something like "Bancroft recalled..." I understand that the quote came from the research and from a newspaper or something along those lines, but I would have liked to have seen a little more attribution with it. To be fair, the back of the book has so much attribution, it's not funny. Still, it's something that was pounded in my head during college and during my years of working at a newspaper, so sometimes I cringe when I see things like that!

    OVERALL THOUGHTS

    Again, I would highly encourage baseball history fans to read this book. It's an excellent read. However, it's not what I would call a "page turner." It's not one of those books that I couldn't wait to get back to or would sit reading for several hours each night. With the long chapters, I often found myself reading one chapter in a night and calling it good. There were a few times I would go a couple of days without reading. But I was always interested in the next chapter and in watching how the season unfolded. I never wanted to stop reading the book, which is a good thing, and I did really enjoy it. It's a slower-paced book that really gave a history lesson. For that, I was happy.

    RATING

    Originally, I wanted to give this something in the 3.5 range, but after thinking about it, I think it's a solid 4 stars. It's a strong read. Though the style, at times, is maddening, overall it's a very good book and worth reading. Especially if you are a baseball or baseball history fan.

    On a side note, you can see Old Hoss in modern times on Twitter (@OldHossRadbourn).
    10 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2024
    A great read for anyone interested in the early history of baseball. Meticulously researched but not to the point of pedantry.

Top reviews from other countries

  • J. Cattanach
    5.0 out of 5 stars Sporting Greats
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 18, 2013
    I bought this as someone with exactly the same name as me featured. It's brilliant to see your name in print. This book is a gem for anyone interested in baseball but also those who enjoy sports history.
  • Marc Ranger
    5.0 out of 5 stars A look into 19th century ball and the greatest season ever by a pitcher
    Reviewed in Canada on April 15, 2010
    This book is a good, fast read into the life and times of ballplayers of the 1880's. As a student of the game, I found it fascinating to learn about the habits and later life of such personnality as Charlie Sweeney, Paul Hines or Frank Bancroft.

    Radbourn (or Radbourne) was a complex person. He knew how to sell himself, but incredibly, had an opportunity to free himself from the hated and slave-like reserve clause and choose to remain with the Provindence Grays.

    Wait for a beautiful day, find yourself a nice tree, sit down under it and enjoy the book.
  • Box_Score
    5.0 out of 5 stars What a Year!
    Reviewed in Canada on January 21, 2018
    Wonderfully written story of Radbourn's 1884 season and what it was like to be there in 1884. Glad I wasn't a catcher.