July 2, 1903: The Mysterious Death of Hall-Of-Famer Big Ed Delahanty

Author Mike Sowell pieces together a controversial period in major league baseball through a biography on one of the most mercurial figure to wear a uniform...and one of the greatest players of all-time, "Big Ed" Delahanty. A career .346 hitter - and a superstar slugger in this dead-ball era - Delahanty died at age 35 on July 2, 1903, in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, after being thrown off a train due to boorish behavior caused by drunkenness. Sowell tackles the burning issues of whether Delahanty died due to being murdered or by suicide - or maybe an accident caused by unbridled anger - and where where he was traveling to about one week after playing in what was his final pro game with the Washington Senators. Delahanty - a native of Cleveland, Ohio - played at a time (1888-1903) when free agency was only a better contract away and the brawls on the field matched the ones off the diamond. Along with Washington, Delahanty played for the Philadelphia Quakers and Phillies and for his hometown Cleveland club. The fast and wild times made for what seemed to be an endless party. Sowell shows - yet again - that the trappings of pop culture in any decade can prove to be a web that can dim a shining star as quickly as it takes to scamper around the bases for an inside the park homer.

I READ THIS BOOK WHEN IT WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1993.I HAVE BEEN A PHILLIES FAN FOR 44 YEARS AND I TOOK SPECIAL INTEREST IN THIS MAN WHO IS THE ONLY PLAYER TO WIN A BATTING CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE AMERICAN AND THE NATIONAL LEAGUE.A MUST FOR ALL PHILLIES FANS AND BASEBALL FANS!!!!!!!

I first reviewed Mike's book when it was published some years ago, when we both worked at The Tulsa Tribune in Tulsa, Okla. At the time (early '90s), baseball was at the crest of a resurgence in popularity: The sparkle of movies like "Field of Dreams" and "Bull Durham" had not yet faded - even John Sayles' unblinking "Eight Men Out" put only a slight negative spin on the sports' image. In my review then, I skirted some issues that bothered me, attributing them to what I saw as a lack of focus. Upon recent rereading, however, I would classify "July 2" as the strongest and bravest of Sowell's three books - and the other two are quite courageous, indeed. What Mike did was to take us back to professional baseball's beginnings, to present us with the ugly truth. The 1919 "Black Sox" scandal was only a slight sore that, if peeled away, would have revealed the disease at the heart of the game and would have been traced to the shocking practices of team owners, who handled the lives of players like so many kids trading cards. They could not afford this, and it was fearful to speculate what they might do to protect their interests. Once read, "July 2" makes a book like Ken Burns' and Geoffrey C. Ward's "Baseball" make more sense.

Considering how very little information is available about Ed Delahanty, I thought Mike Sowell did a terrific job. One could have written about Ed and others in chapters, but not Mr. Sowell. His intelligence is such that even he realized that one could never write a bonifide biography with little information. Therefore, he did what any true baseball historian would do...fill in the blanks with the times and events that surrounded your subject. Mike Sowell did an excellent job of this and I credit him with giving me enough insight of the time and characters to research them further. Today, there is not much that I do not know about the era. I still continue to read about everything baseball and the players of the time. Sad how they are being forgotten. Today's players owe them much. Thank you, Mike! Anthony DeMedeiros, Toronto, Ontario