Mt review of Charley Rosen’s book appears on this week’s Bookreporter.com.
Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Charley Rosen offers a tip of the tam o’ shanter to the many men who helped shape the national pastime into the game we enjoy today in this fast-paced history.
Rosen — whose previous baseball book (following more than a dozen fiction and nonfiction titles about basketball) was 2011’s Bullpen Diaries: Mariano Rivera, Bronx Dreams, Pinstripe Legends, and the Future of the New York Yankees— goes back to the game’s roots to report how so many sons of Erin influenced the style, rules and governance of baseball. Some late 18th-century practitioners, such as Michael “King” Kelly, were lauded in song and story for their exploits on the field. Others, like John Montgomery Ward, were instrumental in seeking rights for players in an era when owners held all the cards and managed their “property” with an iron hand. Additional high-profile figures include the five Delahanty brothers, one of whom met an ignominious end when he plunged to his death from a bridge after being put off a train for drunken behavior.
Read the rest here.
Rosen was the guest author on last week’s Bookshelf Podcast.
is available on Amazon.com,
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