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Amazon Vine reviewers knocked out by “stunningly good book”
Check out what Amazon’s most trusted reviewers, both women and men, have already said after reading early copies of Fifty-nine in ’84 :
“Stunningly good book – would make a great movie but nobody would believe it!”
“More exciting than watching the Super Bowl!”
“Grand slam!”
“A story about life first and baseball second!”
“Sportswriting at its best!”
“Fascinating look at early baseball!”
“About more than just baseball!”
“A revelatory book about the early years of baseball and the men who played the game!”
When my agent, David Miller, saw the reviews of Fifty-nine in ’84 on Amazon.com – one after...
Should Megan Fox, Robert Downey Jr. star in Fifty-nine in ’84?
There’s already been Hollywood interest in Fifty-nine in ’84, and people sometimes ask me who I’d like to see play the lead characters. Old Hoss Radbourn, the crusty, hard-driving hero at the center of the book, would require somebody who could convey his intense dedication to his craft of pitching, his courage and his fierce loyalty to those he loved, but also his very wry sense of humor and the devilish sparkle in his eye when he does such things as pose for pictures with his middle finger subtly extended.
Radbourn’s a hard drinker. There’s a damn-it-all nonchalance on his outside,...
Barrington Books Reading
Ed will be reading from Fifty-nine in ’84 and signing books at Barrington Books, in Barrington, RI, on March 27, 2010, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Look for more information at their website.
‘Achorn wonderfully captures this era,’ Publishers Weekly declares
In a glowing review, Publishers Weekly is lauding Edward Achorn’s Fifty-nine in ’84 as an “inside look into the game of baseball” in its brutal early days, hailing his revelation of the “hard-nosed players” of 1884. “There’s plenty to devour (and learn) for even the biggest of baseball savants,” PW declares.
“Achorn wonderfully captures this era of the sport—when pitchers threw balls at batters’ heads, and catchers … endured such abuse that some would need fingers amputated,” writes Publishers Weekly, which is closely read by book-industry insiders, including booksellers, filmmakers and agents.
“It’s no wonder that, in some circles, as Achorn...
Was Radbourn better than Clemens, Johnson and Maddux?
Comparing players across eras is never a perfect science. Conditions change over the years. Pitchers stop throwing complete games, as relief specialists emerge. Pitch counts and advances in medicine help protect arms and shoulders, prone to break down under the unnatural stress of throwing. Players cheat with drugs to enhance their performance.
But my new book, Fifty-nine in ’84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had (Smithsonian/HarperCollins) is certainly influencing the debate, by bringing into the light an astounding pitcher and his season that will never be matched. (See www.EdwardAchorn.com)
In 1884, a hard-drinking, cantankerous, rubber-armed...
Kirkus hails ‘loving reincarnation’ of unforgettable season
Edward Achorn, in his new Fifty-nine in ’84, “delivers an entertaining story,” offering “a thoroughly researched panegyric to a man and an era,” Kirkus Reviews declares.
Kirkus, which serves the book and literary trade sector — including agents, TV and movie producers and booksellers – describes the book as “a loving reincarnation of the 1884 baseball season, during which Charles ‘Old Hoss’ Radbourn won 59 games and hurled his team into the World Series.”
It adds: “Preserved in sometimes skimpy, and always biased, newspaper accounts, the achievement of Radbourn, the Providence Grays’ ace pitcher, is indeed astonishing.”
Achorn portrays 1880s baseball, which was...
Achorn to throw out first pitch on ‘Old Hoss Day’
The Pawtucket Red Sox, AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, are planning a festive “Old Hoss Day” on Sunday, May 16, in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn, star of the National League’s Providence Grays. The organization has asked Edward Achorn, author of Fifty-nine in ’84, the acclaimed new book about Radbourn and his legendary 1884 season, to throw out the first pitch of the 1:05 p.m. game at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I., between the PawSox and the visiting Syracuse Chiefs.
After the game, Achorn will be on hand to sign copies of his...
Spitball reviews ‘convincing and engaging’ Fifty-nine in ’84
Mike Shannon, in Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine, praises Edward Achorn’s Fifty-nine in ’84 for bringing the “crusty, tenacious, rubber-armed” Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn back to life. “As Achorn makes clear, Radbourn is definitely a player who has earned his place in any baseball fan’s pantheon of all-time greats,” Shannon writes, calling the detailed work “as complete a biography of the man as we are ever likely to get.”
The review notes that Achorn “expertly delineates” the rough and rowdy world of baseball in 1884, played under different rules and conditions. Subplots, especially the story of Radbourn’s bitter battle for glory...
