Edward Achorn

Twitter legend @oldhossradbourn, who has attracted thousands of followers by pretending to be Hall of Fame pitcher Old Hoss Radbourn, thinks Edward Achorn’s “Fifty-nine in ’84” is a great read about “my favorite subject: me.”

“Achorn writes vividly, and a great strength of the book is that one is near transported to the time in question. I felt as if I were once again walking through those dense, crowded streets on the way to the ball park or, in my off time, a house of ill repute. Achorn has clearly studied his subject matter well, and knows the ins and outs of his geography as if he’d strolled these boulevards himself,” writes Old Hoss.

“To his great credit, he equally treats the bad and the good, and his picture is often not pretty: coal-powered cities teem with fetid smog; rivers clogged with sewage wend their way through the landscape; and the questionable morals and illicit activities of the players and citizenry are omnipresent,” he adds.

“If you’re going to read a book — a waste of time if you ask me, what with our nation’s secret bordellos a mere telegraph away — read this one. Given that Father’s Day is right around the corner, I believe your own pappy might well enjoy reading about baseball’s greatest pitcher.”

For “Old Hoss’s” complete rant, please click here