Book #76: "Fifty-Nine in '84"

Modern technology is kind of amazing. A few years ago, I was getting ready for work one Friday morning, which happened to be a payday. With one hand I was blow-drying my hair, while with the other I was paying bills. I can browse the internet, send emails, play games, and even write out my thoughts on books from this small device that was originally intended to make calls. Remarkable.

The subject of today's book (another library-sale acquisition, I think) played baseball in a time where the first telephones were a novelty, and would no doubt have been in awe of this sorcery. Indeed, as he pitched his way to 59 wins without the benefit of medical help for his sore arm, rest for his beleaguered body or even a glove for his left hand, he might well have believed my ability to compose an essay without even getting out of bed the ultimate in laziness. 

Impressive as this feat was, the telling of it drags, with details unnecessary to the narrative and continual deviations to tell the backstory of minor characters I frankly didn't care about. But it's nonetheless fascinating to see how the game has evolved over time, and to learn about a record that is unlikely, in today's iteration, to ever be broken. 

Author: Edward Achorn

Potentially objectionable content: Not that I noticed; there are some references to various unsavory habits and language, but they are couched, as befits the era, in euphemisms.