Hope the book is doing well.....I see
your name from time to time in various newspapers.....so I do suppose you're
getting it out there for folks to read....which is a good thing. I have
a big interest in what all those guys (Reds and Sox) did after their baseball
playing days were over...so I really enjoyed your book about your grandfather.
I remember where I was the day I heard
that Edd Roush passed away. Just so you know that I know....I was on Highway
84 between Waycross, GA and Valdosta, GA where Joe Jackson played ball
in 1923, '24 and '25....and where I know Edd trained at least one year...maybe
more. Kind of weird that I remember stuff like that....but I do....just
like a photograph....burns right into my mind when I hear anything about
the Black Sox. You know....it's kind of sad for me....cause I knew he
was the last living participant of the '19 Series...and in the back of
my mind I always wanted to contact him.....but never got around to researching
where he was living or anything of that nature.....I kind of regret that
now. But with your book....I got answers to the questions I probably would
have asked him.....so it all works out!!
Mike Nola, Official Historian
The Shoeless Joe Jackson Virtual Hall
of Fame Web Site
http://www.blackbetsy.com/
"I have read your book Red
Legs and Black Sox and found it a fascinating read." - Sam Zygner
- (Miami, FL)
"In fact, I had a hard time putting
it down. Of the many things I most liked about the book was how you brought
into the story the relationship, and influence, that Essie Mae had in Edd's
life. Behind every good man is a great woman and Essie was a great woman.
There is no doubt of Edd's skills on the diamond but as a husband, father,
grandfather, and friend he was a Hall of Famer not only on the field but
also in life. It must have been a sad day when he lost Essie Mae."
"I don't know if you remember
meeting me at a bookstore in Cooperstown in early October." - Kerry
J. Demarco (Erie, PA)
"My friend and I were having a discussion with the
owner(his name escapes me now) when you came in. He introduced us to you
as big baseball fans. I purchased your book and you gave me a personal
book signing. Which I very much appreciated! You had asked me to email
you and tell you what I thought of the book. Well, I just finished it!
I must say that it was an outstanding read! I really enjoyed
it. I always fancied myself as a baseball junkie reading everything I can
about the history of our great game! However, one era that I don't
feel I know as much as I should, is the turn of the century game. Your
book gave me tremendous insight into it.It was really a facinating and
interesting read. I couldn't put it down! I knew your grandfather was a
Hall of Famer,but really didn't know much about him. He was quite a man
and ballplayer. It really does put a different and interesting perspective
to the event. One I really never thought of. You always hear the story
told from a White Sox perspective. I didn't realize how good a team the
Reds were. I learned an awful lot from it. You have a great style
of writing. Very smooth and easy to read. Your use of footnotes were extremely
helpful and added to the text. I really mean it, it was a great read. I
have already recommended it to friends and family. My brother has it now!
Well, I know your busy and I appreciate you taking the
time to read this email. I was honored to have met you and hopefully, I'll
see you again in the "World's Most Perfect Village"! Thank's
so much for the book signing. Have a wonderful holiday! Thank's again!
"I was fascinated by your discussion
of the world series" -- Tim Shay (Cincinnati, OH)
"In February, I bought your book on your grandfather,
Edd Roush. I am writing now to tell you how much I enjoyed reading it.
Your information on the 1919 World Series showed me a side of it that I
knew nothing about. I was fascinated by your discussion of that world series.
The personal information you had concerning Edd Roush
also greatly added to the book. Seldom I have seen a book on a sports figure
that had so much rich, personal information on the subject.
Perhaps someday a movie would be made based upon your
book. Such a film would be a great complement to 'Eight Men Out'.
Thanks for writing such a great book!"
A book that should be a MOVIE! -
Cherie Cross - (Atlanta, GA)
"Okay, my motivation for reading this book was to
impress my boyfriend who had raved about it. By the end of the first chapter,
I became intrigued. It was a love story AND a mystery. I was hooked.
I'd never heard of this famous old-time baseball player,
Edd Roush. Now I feel like I've known Edd and Essie (wife) all my life.
The characters were so real; the farm family with the tough-love German
mother who didn't want Edd to play baseball.
I never really appreciated male-bonding until I read this
book. Edd's quiet and supportive father and his loving twin brother were
the beginning. Then, all the Cincinnati Reds baseball players from the
early days came alive. (I hate that Hal Chase.)
When I got to the 1919 "Black Sox" world series
I couldn't put it down. Cincinnati won, but the mystery is still unsolved
today. There were gamblers, detectives, murder and trials. I cried at the
end.
Edd Roush is a poster-child for the human spirit. I can't
wait to see the movie!"
Your Great Book! - Bill Denham (Newburgh,
Indiana)
"I was present at your book lecture at Barnes &
Noble in Evansville a couple of months ago. You gave a sterling account
of everything connected with your grandfather's awesome career, and the
book exemplified the same kind of performance. I have read and re-read
it. You will always look upon it as one of your great accomplishments,
no doubt.
I knew your granddad and I remember so vividly how the
townspeople and the kids of Mt. Carmel IL were absorbed his comments and
answers to their queries when he would visit there. Having known Edd as
I did, I absorbed every word in the book with enhanced interest and
anticipation for the next one as I read. A fair amount of the key
issues relative to his holdouts and dogged determination I had heard from
him to a degree years ago. So every detail certainly got my attention
throughout the book. I enjoyed the many stories that you included
about your grandmother. It enriched the book considerably.
Your grandfather autographed a baseball for me one year
long ago. I have cherished it for many years, and will for many more. "
Ann Russell (Brighton, MA)
"I finished reading 'Red Legs and Black Sox' on Tuesday
and I was mesmerized by it. What a fascinating story!
You put a human face on the titons of baseball that were
only names to me up until now. What an exciting time it must have been
for your family members."
Mel Kinsey (U.K. fan)
"May I congratulate you on the above book. I have
just finished reading it, and enjoyed it immensely.
Although I am from the UK, I love Baseball, especially
the history of the game. I have the usual books about 1919, but enjoyed
the Reds side of the events. I remember seeing your grandfather's plaque
in the Hall of Fame, but never got round to read about him. I will now!"
Roland Hemond - Chicago White Sox -
Executive Advisor to the General Manager
(Seattle, July 1, 2006 - Presentation
to 500 members at National SABR Convention)
"I'm looking for the woman who kept
me up last night. Is Dr. Susan Dellinger here, today? I couldn't stop reading
her book, 'Red Legs and Black Sox'.... best book I've read in years."
Dave Hines - Community Bank -Parkersburg,
WV
"Just finished reading your book about your grandfather.
Great job. Having been a Red's fan all my life, I had heard of Edd
Roush being a great player but have never read anything about him.
I really enjoyed reading it. I agree with Bob Feller, this
book should have been published a long time ago.
Thanks for writing this book and I hope to meet you sometime
and autograph it for me."
Josh Adams
"I'm a 28 yr old attorney from Glenview, Illinois
and I have been a life long Sox fan. I love reading anything about
the Sox, and the 1919 Series. Your book was really an enjoyable change
from the rest of the books that are mostly from the Sox point of view.
I loved the way you wrote, and at times I forgot I was
reading a book about baseball, but rather a sort of family history.
Your joy and love really comes though in the text."
Jacob Pomerenke (1919BlackSox@yahoogroups.com)
"Very easy to get through for the first 150 pages
(the non-BSox part),took me maybe 2-3 sittings, about 2-3 days of light
reading. It's an entertaining and vivid portrait of Edd Roush, details
nobody but a family member would have. Well worth the read.
The last 200 pages, though, wow. I, literally, could NOT
put it down last night. I kept telling myself, "Come to a stopping
point. Pick it up tomorrow." Just couldn't do it. Had to finish it.
Anyway ... I consider myself a novice when it comes to the gambling/cover-up
side of the B-Sox scandal. I know all the familiar names (Burns, Attell,
Sullivan, A.R.), I can even tell you where some of them are from (Zelcer
from Des Moines, the Levi brothers, things like that). But the whole Cal
Crim investigation was a revelation to me. The set-up to fix the Reds was
a revelation to me. I just haven't looked into that at all -- and haven't
read anything where that was a major focus. I want to know more about that
now.
Bob Feller's blurb was right: "This is a book that
should have been written a long, long time ago." But it was well worth
the wait."
Ed Nixon....SABR (PA)
"After all is said and done, it is a great book,
I could not put it down. The thing that impresses me is the fact that you
brought NEW information to the Black Sox scandal, NEW facts bearing on
that fiasco, this in itself is a HUGE contribution to this topic. Even
though I am partial to Joe Jackson's role in that series, (sympathetic.....best
record of all players in that series), I appreciate the "straight
ahead" comments of Edd Roush and yourself. I kind of gathered that
Edd was surprised when the "gambler" in the hospital implicated
Jackson in the fix when he was talking with your Granddad. I have taken
a lot of flak from posters because of my views on Jackson, but no matter,
your book treated him fairly in view of history/research. Let it suffice
that your book is an outstanding contribution to the history of the Black
Sox scandal."
Arnold Fege (Washington D.C.)
"I was in Sarasota this spring when you did the book
signing at Barnes and Noble and enjoyed so much the presentation you did
related to your grandfather and the Cincinnati version of the Black Sox
scandal. I have just finished the book and wanted to let you know
how very well you articulated this story. I am originally from Chicago,
and played two years of minor league ball for the White Sox when Bill Veeck
owned the team the second time, and the lore of the Black Sox is is one
of those events that is always present, if not always discussed.
You just know it is part of White sox history. I appreciated how
well you told the story, from the Redlegs perspective. Again, thank
you for telling another part of baseball history, and your book will be
a cherished part of my library."
Jim Moyes, Deadballer with SABR
"I just completed reading Susan Dellinger's book
Redlegs and Black Sox. It was a book of "Ritteresque" proportion
for deadball entertainment. Edd Roush would have been proud (er) of his
grandaughter's tale of the infamous 1919 World 'Serious.'
Next up will be Two Finger Carney's tale of this historical
date in time (Burying the Black Sox)."
Gene Carney - More light on baseball's darkest days
"Susan Dellinger's book contributes
a fascinating missing piece of the puzzle of baseball's cold case, the
Fix of the 1919 World Series ... telling the story of Edd Roush's life
and times from her unique perspective would be enough for one book ...
but the light she sheds on the mystery that has been summed up (wrongly,
I think) as "the Black Sox scandal" is also welcome. " (From Amazon.com "Review" webpage.)
David J. Fletcher, M.D. - President,
Chicago Baseball Museum
"A lot of the story of Red Legs and Black Sox
begins where Eight Men Out ends. It is must read for any baseball
fan or history buff who wants to learn more about baseball's darkest moment
and how one proud man Edd Roush lived the rest of his life with the taint
of the Black Sox.
The craziness of the gambling activities in and about
the Cincinnati Hotels around Game 1 and Game 2 are particularly insightful
in the missing links of the Black Sox story and correspond to the trial
testimony that Sleepy Bill Burns late gave in the 1924 Milwaukee trial
of Joe Jackson versus Charles Comiskey.
The illustrations are a joy and nearly all new for Black
Sox related publications.
The best illustration is the newly discovered picture
of gambler Abe Attell grinning with a cigar in his mouth behind the Reds
starting line-up before Game 1 on October 1, 1919. The photo creates a
JFK conspiracy-nior film - an Oliver Stone moment. I believe this
book has good screenplay adaptation.
My only major criticism with Dr. Dellinger's book is that
future editions need to have an index."
John Sayles: Director of movie - Eight
Men Out (Hollywood, CA)
"Edd J. Roush was a unique figure in the early days
of major league baseball and Dr. Dellinger has a unique perspective on
the man and his career, as well as new fuel to add to the ever-burning
Black Sox controversy."
Roger Hamburg "Roger Hamburg fan"
(South Bend, IN)
"A great book about the life and times of Edd Roush,the Hall of Famer
from the Cincinnati Redlegs(Reds)who played against the Chicago "Black
Sox (the color of their stockings), in the infamous 1919 World Series.
Susan is Roush's grandaughter. She has details that only she would know
revealing details and information that are unavailable elsewhere. Her grandfather
would not reveal the name of the gambler who he spoke to in the hospital
in 1928 who "blew the entire affair up" but it is hard to check
his story. She begins where "Eight Men Out" ends. MUST READ.!" (From Amazon.com "Review" webpage.)
Hugh S. Fullerton (Midwest)
"Dr. Dellinger has done a great job of showing another
side of the 1919 World Series story. I liked the mix of Edd Roush biography
and first-hand accounts of the way things were during the World Series.
The author cites "evidence" from Edd Roush that
shows Chicago wasn't the only team on the take, there were loads of gamblers
involved, and the Sox were playing to win most of the time.
It is a nice, easy read - I will probably go through it
a few more times over the next couple months." (From Amazon.com "Review" webpage.)
Jack Wolf, Ph.D. (Florida)
" Well written tribute to one of the true stars in
baseball telling the story of Edd Roush, the man and the athlete. I loved
the visual descriptions of the people and the places. I could 'see' the
scenes as I was reading. The book kept me engrossed throughout."
Kent Chetlain, former Sports Editor
(Bradenton Herald)
"You have done a nice job of blending the family's
life with a Hall of Fame baseball player while recounting his career, centered
around the infamous Black Sox scandal. The cover page was a great montage
and some of the pictures were not the usual ones found of Roush."
William A. Cook, author of The 1919
World Series (McFarland, 2002)
"The Roush story the way you have written it is truly
middle-America of the 20th century at its finest. It's baseball, the Protestant
work ethic and family values. Edd Roush had the character to combine all
three. In short, Red Legs and Black Sox is one hell'va book and
cries out for a movie production."
Chris Roush, (Chapel Hill, NC) - A
Distant Relative
" I read this book in less than two days. As a distant
relative of Edd Roush, I thought I knew a lot about what happened during
his career and during the 1919 World Series. But Dellinger's book added
a lot to the story. It was well-written and inciteful. I would recommend
it to any baseball fan, and to anyone interested in a story of a man who
remained honest despite nearly everyone around him succumbing to temptation."(From Amazon.com "Review" webpage.)
Ellen Kimmel, Ph.D. (Santa Cruz, CA)
- Something for Everyone
" Dellinger captivated me with this story of her
grandfather even though I'm not a baseball fan. It has everything--a wonderful
love story, exciting sports events, the mob, suspense, wrongs righted--
you name it." (From Amazon.com
"Review" webpage.)
Paul Lyons, Boston MA
" I look forward
to reading this book each day after school (I'm a teacher). My interest
in baseball began after seeing "Eight Men Out" when I was in
the 6th or 7th grade. Your book has made me obsessed with the subject of
the Black Sox scandal once again. I love the fact that I can finally learn
about this even through the eyes of the Cincinnati Reds. I'm beginning
to see the two teams and the 1919 World Series in a whole new light. This
book has started my obsession all over again."
"Old CardBoard"
Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards - eNews
Issue #24 (April 2006) www.oldcardboard.com
Book Review: Red Legs and Black Sox
by Susan Dellinger
The 1919 World Series "Black Sox" scandal has long held the
interest of baseball historians as well as vintage baseball card collectors.
This year, as the Chicago White Sox celebrate as reigning World Champions
after a long "curse" that began with the infamous scandal, there
seems to be an even stronger interest in the events surrounding the 1919
World Series.
One book about these events, that resulted in the permanent exile from
baseball of eight the White Sox players, was just released. It adds a particularly
interesting perspective in that it for the first time reveals details of
the events from the perspective of the Cincinnati Reds. The book, entitled
Red Legs and Black Sox: Edd Roush and the Untold Story of the 1919 World
Series (Emmis Books, Cincinnati, 2006) was written by Susan Dellinger,
granddaughter of Hall-of-Famer Edd Rousch and star of the Cincinnati team.
In researching the book, Dellinger conducted interviews over the course
of thirty years with Roush and several members of the 1919 Reds team and
their families, including Greasy Neale, Bill Rariden, Heinie Groh, Slim
Sallee, and Rube Bressler. As a result, it not only provides important
insight into the people and events surrounding the 1919 World Series, but
serves as a biography with an insider view of the life and personality
of Edd Rousch himself.
Although the Chicago White Sox suffered the brunt of public condemnation
after the 1919 World Series, the Reds were negatively impacted as well.
For eighty-five years, the Reds' World Series victory has been tainted
by the idea that, had the series not been fixed, the White Sox would have
been that year's champions. That thought rankled Rousch throughout his
life, and his granddaughter's book presents a convincing argument that
the Reds would have won the Series even if the White Sox had been playing
at the top of their game.
It is also interesting to note that Rousch, the Reds batting star and
centerfielder from Oakland City in southern Indiana, was the last surviving
player from the 1919 World Series. He died in 1988 just six weeks short
of this 95th birthday.
The book provides a fascinating look at the life and career of the Reds'
Hall of Famer and a new perspective on baseball's darkest days. It is a
must-read for any baseball fan interested in finding out more about the
1919 World Series.
Lyman and Brett Hardeman
Old Cardboard, LLC.
Old Cardboard, LLC. was established in December, 2003, to help
bring information on vintage baseball card collecting to the hobbyist.
Produced by collectors for collectors, this comprehensive resource consists
of three components: (1) Old Cardboard Magazine, (2) a companion
website at www.oldcardboard.com and (3) this eNewsletter. The Old Cardboard
website contains more than 500 pages of descriptive reference information
for baseball card sets produced fifty years ago or longer. Each of these
set summaries has a direct set-specific link to auctions and a similar
link to 's powerful search engine for further research.
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