Baseball was a rough sport in the nineteenth century and no one played the game with more vigor (and often violence) than Hall of Famers Hugh Duffy and Tommy McCarthy, dubbed “The Heavenly Twins.” This book details their professional history playing for Boston Beaneaters teams and personal experiences with baseball, faith, and legendary Boston baseball scribe Tim Murnane. The book also traces their minor league careers and post-professional baseball activities.

Attorney Donald Hubbard is a member of the Boston chapter of SABR, and has also been a newspaper columnist in Boston for the past nine years.

Donald Hubbard
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 252
Bibliographic Info: 39 photos, notes, index
Copyright Date: 2008
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3455-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Foreword by Richard A. Johnson      1

Preface      3

Prologue      5

1. The Silver King      9

2. The Union Association      21

3. Oshkosh by Gosh      32

4. A Star Is Born      42

5. Mac and the St. Louis Browns      53

6. See You in Chicago      64

7. Swan Song for the American Association      75

8. The Heavenly Twins Lead Boston to a Title in 1892      87

9. Repeat for the Beaneaters in 1893      97

10. Hugh Duffy Sets a Record as His Ball Park Burns Down      107

11. Where Everybody Knows Your Name      119

12. Tommy McCarthy Takes a Bow in Boston      125

13. Always a Bridegroom      134

14. The Great 1897 Race with Baltimore      144

15. Duffy’s Last Years as a Player      154

16. McCarthy’s Life After Baseball      161

17. Hugh Duffy’s Long Goodbye      171

18. Final Days      181

19. Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way      190

20. Heavenly Twins Yes, but Hall of Famers?      202

Epilogue      213

Chapter Notes      217

Bibliography      223

Index      225