Chris Von der Ahe and the St. Louis Browns
...For anyone interested in 19th century baseball or owners or reading a book about one different individual, I highly recommend it. (Sabr)If baseball writer J. Thomas Hetrick, the author ofChris Von der Ahe and the St. Louis Browns, hasn't already sold the movie rights for this fantastic book, he surely should. It's a remarkably well-researched and entertaining read from beginning to end and absolutely superb fodder for a Seabiscuit-like film presentation. (Www.Haroldseymour.Com)...Hetrick tells a great story... (Elysian Fields Quarterly)...the author has done considerable research into the details of Von der Ahe's life, and several appendixes add interest. (CHOICE)Chris Von der Ahe and the St. Louis Browns, J. Thomas Hetrick's account of this "strange baseball odyssey", has all the ingredients of a made-for-tv movie...Hetrick's eye for detail is indefatigable, his game accounts and rendering of the period and players most astute.Chris Von der Ahe and the St. Louis Brownsis a most admirable study. (NINE: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture)...zesty saga of the tavern proprietor who ended up running a four-time penant-winning team...the first full biography of one of baseball's most enigmatic owners. (David PlautUSA Today Baseball Weekly)Fans who think the game is wild now will appreciate Hetrick's account of Von der Ahe...who throughout the 1880s was embroiled in legal battles and baseball disputes that culminated in his own kidnapping and his stadium being burned to the ground. Direct ancestor to today's Cardinals, the Browns won the pennant four years in a row under his wild leadership. (Reference and Research Book News)