Old Hoss: A Fictional Baseball Biography of Charles Radbourn

Charles Radbourn won 59 games in 1884, enjoying a season that was, like his life off the field, the stuff of legend. Though he would never again approach that number, still in 11 years he racked up over 300 wins and 4500 innings, mind-blowing numbers that lend his career the air of legend. And yet the facts of his playing seem more credible than the stories of his lifestyle, which included alcohol abuse, womanizing, wild brawling, and, late, the ravages of syphilis. Even his plaque at Cooperstown presents us with an image at least part caricature—cap set forward, mouth open, mustache pricked up at the ends, thick as his nose is long, nearly. Not Charles, but Ol’ Hoss. This is the account of one writer’s attempt to discover Old Hoss Radbourn, as we must, after the fact. It is May 1941, and John Trapp is bound for Bloomington, Illinois, to cover for the Chicago Tribune ceremonies honoring the living Clark Griffith and the late Radbourn. On the train, Trapp meets Griffith, who piques his interest in the great pitcher. Trapp pieces together the outrageous story of the 1884 campaign, and eventually crafts the first biography to anchor the details of the Hall of Famer’s life in fact.