July 2, 1903: The Mysterious Death of Hall-Of-Famer Big Ed Delahanty

by Mike Sowell

Investigates the death of one of baseball's earliest all-stars, whose "accidental" fall into Niagara Falls occurred just a few months before the team's corrupt owners organized the first World Series.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, History, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1992

About the author

Mike Sowell is a sports historian and the author of three baseball books, including The Pitch That Killed about Ray Chapman and Carl Mays. Named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times in 1989,[citation needed] and winner of the CASEY Award for best baseball book of 1989,[1] The Pitch That Killed tells the story of the only on-field fatality in major league baseball history, when the Yankees' Mays beaned the Indians' Chapman in the final weeks of the 1920 American League pennant race.[2]

Sowell also wrote about baseball tragedies in his other books. One Pitch Away, about the 1986 baseball postseason and the key players involved, featured Donnie Moore, the Angels pitcher whose suicide two years later was linked to his role in the 1986 ALCS, and Bill Buckner, whose 20-year career was tainted by missing a ground ball in Game 6 of the World Series.[3] July 2, 1903 explored the mysterious death of Hall-of-Famer Ed Delahanty, who died after being swept over Niagara Falls.[4]

In addition to his books and articles on baseball history, Sowell wrote the text for Cardtoons, a set of baseball parody cards that led to a lawsuit with the Major League Baseball Players Association.[5][6] In Cardtoons v. MLBPA, the court ruled in 1996 that the cards parodying the players and their greed were protected by the First Amendment.[7][8]

Sowell, a former sportswriter for the Tulsa Tribune,[2] is now a journalism professor at Oklahoma State University.[9] He was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2007.[10][11]

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Mike Sowell’s “The Pitch That Killed” so much that I picked another of his works, “July 2, 1903”. The deaths of famous baseball players seems to be a particular interest for Sowell. In this book, the subject is Ed Delahanty, who played 16 seasons for the Phillies and Washington until his untimely and mysterious death at the age of 35. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945.

The highly inebriated Delahanty plunged off a bridge over Canada’s International River in the middle of the night on July 2, 1903, and was subsequently pitched over Niagara Falls to his gruesome death. Sowell’s book examines the circumstances that led to his death, and makes interesting speculations on the cause of death. A drunken accident? Suicide? Or foul play? The author rules out none of these scenarios.

While the book meanders all over the place and really doesn’t follow much of a through line, it works because Sowell does paint an extremely vivid picture of major league baseball at the turn of the century. In many cases, the characters are violent and often desperate. His writing style is also firmly set in turn of the century language, which adds further color.

Finally the nicknames are the best. From “Rubberlegs” Miller to “Pebbly Jack” Glasscock to “Turkey Mike” Donlin, every page is full of outstanding, colorful nicknames and characters. Any baseball fan will absolutely enjoy this book.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ed Delahanty was a big-hitting, hard-living superstar of 19th-century baseball. He is usually ranked among the greatest of the first generation of Major Leaguers. There has always been a mystery about him however - his death. On July 2, 1903, because of his unruly behavior, he was put off a train bound from Detroit to New York near the bridge that crosses from Canada into New York near Buffalo. Later that evening he was sighted about half way across that bridge by a night watchman. Several days later, his mangled body was found down river from that bridge at the foot of Niagara Falls. What he was doing on that bridge and how he ended up in the river remain mysteries to this day. Did he accidentally fall due to being drunk? Did he jump to commit suicide? Was there a confrontation with the watchman (who ended up with Delahanty's expensive derby hat) that led to his falling or even being pushed? These are questions that have swirled around the hall of famer for mor than 100 years and that Mike Sowell purports to answer in this book. I say purports because while this book is a splendid chronicle of the history of Major League baseball around the turn of the 20th century, the one thing it does not do is answer any of those questions. Sowell presents a picture of the business side of baseball with a colorful cast of characters - players and executives alike. Besides Delahanty, we meet Gorgeous George Davis whose contract jumping between National and American Leagues almost caused war between them; John "Muggsy" McGraw (who hated the name Muggsy) who as both a player and manager would bait opponents and umpires to the point of physical violence; Rube Waddell who once walked off the pitcher's mound in the middle of a game to join the circus parade that was passing by; John Montgomery Ward who after his playing days were over became a lawyer who represented players and because of Delahanty's contract jumping had to go to court and talk about how a contract he himself had written was invalid; and Ban Johnson, first president of the American League who fought to have his league recognized as a "Major" league and advocated his teams raiding older established National League teams for players. Sowell does an excellent job telling the story of the circumstances that led to the formation of the rival league, and how it came about and how the actions of both players and executives produced the structure present up to the current day. At the heart of the whole thing is Delahanty. Being one of, if not THE biggest star of the era, his services were much in demand for both leagues. And it is there that the story comes back to that train in Ontario. Sowell explains Delahanty's increasingly bizarre behavior during the preceding weeks and on the train itself. But what he was does not do - and I would argue that it makes the title of the book very deceptive - is try to solve the mystery. The mystery is probably unsolvable at this point anyway. Sowell does tend to jump around in his narrative structure- bending his timeline at times so that chronology is sometimes confusing. But that bit of author's indulgence is the main quibble I have with the book. Read it to learn a great deal about the personalities and machinations of early baseball and just take for granted that Big Ed's death will remain a mystery.

[David Dunlap · Rating 2 out of 5]

The exact circumstances of the 1903 death of baseball great Ed Delahanty (his body was found at the foot of Niagara Falls) is enshrouded in mystery. Author Sowell has enshrouded it (all 32 pages of it) in another 294 pages of baseball history...not necessarily a bad thing. (After all, the stage needs to be set.) But the author's style is a bit dry, and he seems to write about topics, which messes with the chronology and results in some needless repetition. Of course, there are fascinating things to be gleaned from these pages: that pitchers not on the mound on a given day were required to serve as ticket-takers at the gates; that Philadelphia (Phillies) was the first to build a brick-and-steel ballpark as an answer to the frequent fires of all-wooden structures; that players used to change into their uniforms at their hotel, then appear in a motorcade to the field (called a 'tally-ho'); the first death in professional baseball (1862, Jimmy Creighton -- he apparently swung so hard in hitting a ball that he ruptured his bladder and died in excruciating agony a few days later); the war between the National and fledgling American leagues; etc. The book will definitely appeal to readers interested in the history of baseball, but this reader, at least, believes the title of the book promises more than it, in fact, delivers. (BTW, 'Cousin Fred' is mentioned in passing: page 56.)

[The Master · Rating 4 out of 5]

A misnamed book. The first two-thirds are a rollicking history of major league baseball in the first years of the 20th century. Sowell pulls back the curtain on the backroom dealing between ambitious characters that led to the rise of a new American League to challenge the "big" National League.

These were the final years in the career of famed Phillies slugger Big Ed Delahanty. With the formation of the American League, players like Ed started jumping ballclubs and selling their services to the highest paying owner. Ed ended up with the Washington Senators, though he pined for bigger paydays in New York.

Throughout the book, Sowell rolls out amusing anecdotes about players, owners and ballclubs from these boisterous years. Delahanty drifts in and out of the narrative, disappearing for lengthy stretches, but when the calendar turns to 1903, the narrative slows down and he finally becomes the focal point. His final days are recounted in detail, and his death and its aftermath presented with as much detail as seems to have been available. Rather than settling on one theory, Sowell leaves the reader to consider multiple possibilities that led to Delahanty's untimely demise.

[Harold Kasselman · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I like Mike Sowell's writings, I found this book to be quite tedious. Rather than an inquiry into the death of Big Ed Delahanty, it is more a history of the emergence of the American League including the battles and raids between the National and American League for players. In the midst of this turmoil is Ed Delahanty in a day when players were curried and encouraged to leave their teams for the other league. Law suits and injunctions, broken contracts etc. were the norm.
Clearly it was important for Sowell to provide some insight into the events in baseball that may have impacted the thinking of Delahanty. Nevertheless, the history could have been diluted so that the reader could have gotten what was expected; namely a detailed exposition surrounding the player's death. Instead, it is not until almost 70% through the book that the events of the death are presented. It is still worth reading if you are a baseball history buff, but if you're looking for a murder/action tale, you are looking at the wrong book.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is pretty frustrating. While its detailed history of the war between the National and American Leagues is fascinating to baseball historians, that's.... not what it claims to be about. I picked it up to learn more about Ed Delahanty's weird, creepy death; something that is not even discussed in detail until the last 60 or so pages of a 300+ page chronicle. Most of it isn't even about Delahanty himself, but other players and managers and executives around baseball at the time and their various contractual disagreements. I genuinely don't mean the book is bad--as a snapshot of the time period, I would bet there's not a better account available. But I hd to go with two stars because the title, the subtitle, and the dust jacket all market this book as being about Delahanty's mysterious demise and this book just is not about that until a few pages near the end.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a disappointment and its title clearly did not reflect the majority of its content. I was expecting a more thorough analysis into the death of baseball slugger Ed Delahanty in 1903. However, this book was more a survey of baseball in the 1890s and 1900s with the founding of the American League and stealing of star players from league to league. The book contained some fascinating characters and anecdotes but Delahanty was only one character among many and that was not what I was expecting.

[Lane · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent baseball history of the late 1890's and early 1900's but I choose to read it because I wanted to learn more about Ed Delahanty but I think I have gotten more information about Delahanty in a couple of magazine articles.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of a history of baseball than a mystery. It was written well and held my interest. I'm not much of a baseball person.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

By telling this story the author opens a window on the America of 1903.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific mystery wrapped up in splendid and engaging stories of a rowdy and bygone era of baseball in America. A wonderful book for fans of the game.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best baseball books about the turn of last century I have had the pleasure reading.The life and death of Ed Delahanty, the baseball wars of players jumping leagues and over 100 player anecdotes from players such as Cobb, Crawford, Wagner, Lajoie and many, many more. A true gem for the baseball collectors, especially for those interested in early 1900's baseball.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

read some time in 1993