The baseball offseason torments me. While I appreciate the postseason awards — congrats to Roy Halladay on his Cy Young Award — I find my thoughts turn to the likes of Ed Delahanty, Sam Thompson, Gavvy Cravath and Grover Cleveland Alexander.
Fortunately, I have company. My friend and coworker Dan McQuade of Philadelphia Will Do is loaning me an Ed Delahanty biography! Cannot wait to read about a troubled ballplayer who died at Niagara Falls. I’m fascinated by Big Ed’s story and I love thinking about the dead-ball era, when baseball was a grinding game of bunts, steals and dirty pitches, to say nothing of rogue leagues and labor strife.
I also nearly joined the Society for American Baseball Research yesterday. I told you it was getting bad!