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In the 19th century, Rhode Island was booming. Its factories turned out some of the most highly advanced products in the world, while America’s wealthiest families were turning Newport into their personal playground, complete with fabulous mansions they called cottages. And Providence was home to one of the best baseball teams in the National League: the Providence Grays, winners of baseball’s first World Series.
This presentation takes us into the fascinating and brutal world of Gilded Age major-league baseball, when men played bare-handed, cheated all they could when the umpire’s head was turned, faced horrible injuries, drank heavily, and flirted with gambling corruption. Learn about such future Hall of Famers as the legendary Wright Brothers (George and Harry), Old Hoss Radbourn (who won 60 games in a single season!), Jim O’Rourke, Johnny Ward and a host of remarkable characters who shared the Darwinian ethic of the their time -- when winning was everything.
Edward Achorn is an award-winning deputy editorial pages editor and columnist with The Providence Journal and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. His articles have appeared nationally and he is currently working on a book about early baseball.
Needs (if possible): Data projector that can show a Power Point presentation, screen, a table and an extension cord, to plug in a laptop computer and project 8-15 feet; water