Friday, December 31, 2010

Old Hoss Radbourn and Worcester

I just finished reading  Edward Achorn's book Fifty Nine in '84, which has plenty of references to Worcester and it's former National League team.  I recommend the book- I plowed through it in an afternoon.  While the jacket description highlights Radbourn's romance with a Carrie Stanhope, the book spends most of it's time recreating the Providence Greys' 1884 season.  In his prologue, Edward Achorn describes our fair hometown:
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The Worcesters weren't very successful, nor did they last long in Worcester (they were replaced after the 1882 season by a team from Philadelphia, now the modern day Phillies).  Worcester was the site of the first perfect game in major league history on June 12th, 1882, pitched by J. Lee Richmond (while nursing a post graduation hangover.)  There's even a monument on Sever Street near the tennis courts.
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While we're on the subject of depressing descriptions of Worcester, my personal favorite is Truman Capote's quote from In Cold Blood:
The quote is a good description of the local blogging scene lately.  There's been more grenades lobbed back and forth the past month than I've ever seen.  Perhaps the Telegram's refusal to publish anonymous comments has pushed the fighting into the blogosphere. 
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Here's a collection of references to Worcester in books and film.  It's a collection of books and films, so it omits my recent favorite song, Elvis Costello's Sulphur to Sugarcane.  (Worcester reference at 3:52 mark)

2 comments:

Greta K. said...

Great Capote quote! I live here in Worcester and can totally relate at times.

Sean Dacey said...

I have to give credit to my dad for finding that quote. He was the one who first told me about it.

I always wanted the City to put up signs at our borders with that quote!