July 2, 1903: The Mysterious Death of Hall-Of-Famer Big Ed Delahanty
A drunken and abusive Ed Delahanty, baseball's best-known slugger at the turn of the century, was put off a train on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and either jumped, fell or was pushed to his death. This study by Sowell ( The Pitch That Killed ) adds nothing to the information previously available, and it is only secondarily about Delahanty in any case. The book concerns the baseball wars of the period 1890-1905, with the National League well established, the American League struggling for recognition and a league founded by players done in by the owners. It's a story of athletes leaping from one team to another in the search for big bucks ($4000 a year) and a good examination of an exciting era in baseball history. Photos not seen by PW.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.