Baseball's Strongest Man, Cannonball Crane
By Bill Russo
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About this ebook
As America developed a huge appetite for its emerging passion in the late 19th century, one man stood above all other baseball players - Cannonball Crane. He was the biggest, strongest, and the heaviest star the game had. His record heave in the Polo Grounds set a record for a 'long throw' that probably still stands today - as does his 428 batting average for Toronto. That mark is still far and away the high water mark for any pitcher in the nearly 150 years of professional baseball. Few have risen so high, or fallen so low as Big Ed Crane. This is his story.
Bill Russo
Bill Russo had lived in an area of Massachusetts called the Bridgewater Triangle for many years and never knew that it was said to be inhabited by scary swamp creatures until he met one. It happened on a midnight walk. Years later, two film producers read his blog about it and featured him and his story in their documentary, The Bridgewater Triangle. He also was approached by Discovery channel producers and was featured in the opening segment of Monsters and Mysteries in America - Season two, Episode two. Among his work, are two anthologies featuring the Bridgewater Triangle Universe. One is strictly fiction and the other contains his account of meeting the swamp creature - plus other stories from New England. As a disc jockey, he was the first person to play and promote the trucking classic "Tombstone Every Mile". He counted as a friend, the first man to cross the musical color line, in a 1940s Jazz Band. The "Human Jukebox", who opened for both Elvis and Roy Orbison, was a neighbor of his. Stories of these and other artists are included in "Crossing the Musical Color Line". Bill's background for writing comes from a Boston education at the venerable white shirt & tie, Huntington School for Boys. He followed that up with a study of journalism, music, and broadcasting at the famed Kenmore Square institution, Grahm Jr. College, where he said he learned more about music from an African American gentleman who was the school's janitor, than he ever could in a classroom. He introduced me to Gloria Lynne, Bill said. Years after he learned of her, she had a mega hit with I Wish You Love. One of Grahm's well known graduates was performance artist Andy Kaufman who created his Taxi TV character Latka while at Grahm. Andy also claimed he learned Transcendental Meditation at Grahm, although it was not taught there. But who knows? It could be true. Bill Russo learned music from the Janitor. Maybe someone in bookkeeping was a guru and gave Andy the secrets of TM. At various times during his career, Russo was a New England Newspaper Editor, a Disc Jockey, and a Radio newswriter and newscaster for a number of stations. He also has had stints as an iron worker, and a low level manager for a major mail order clothing retailer. One of his favorite jobs was partnering with Bill Barry, the inventor of a jewelry polish called Clear Bright n Shiny. The 'Bills' as they called themselves toured New England selling...
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Baseball's Strongest Man, Cannonball Crane - Bill Russo
Baseball’s Strongest Man – Cannonball Crane
By Bill Russo
Copyright 2016 by Bill Russo
Published by CCA Media at Smashwords
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents:
Foreword:
Chapter One: Rochester, New York
Chapter Two: Boston, Mass.
Chapter Three: Frustration in Providence and Buffalo
Chapter Four: The Washington Nationals
Chapter Five: North to Toronto
Chapter Six: On to New York
Chapter Seven: The World Championship
Chapter Eight: The Spiral Down
Chapter Nine: The Last Hurrah
Foreword
In the late 1800s, He was the biggest man in America’s developing passion for baseball. The strongest also, setting the record for the longest throw; heaving a baseball from home plate more than 400 feet to the furthest reaches of the outfield.
From Boston to Washington, New York City, and Toronto; to a life deciding moment in a shabby Rochester hotel – Few have ever soared so high or fallen so low. This is the story of Ed Cannonball
Crane.
Chapter One: Rochester, New York
Draining the last swallow of his cheap ‘Beechwood’ whiskey, Ed Crane propped himself up on the lumpy mattress and hurled the spent ‘two bit’ bottle like a spiraling football. The explosion of the rocketed glass and the shower of the splaying shards temporarily halted the pounding on the door and the threats about the overdue bill.
Soon, it started again - the dunning of Ed Cannonball
Crane by the manager of the Congress Hall Hotel in Rochester, New York.
Get the money up Crane or get out! If you can’t pay by tomorrow morning, you’re out.
Big Ed reached for another quart of ‘Beechwood’ from the array scattered on the floor. Finding that all the bottles were empty, he took another pill instead.
For a moment it dimmed the noise of the manager drumming on the solid door and the banging in his spongy brain. Two weeks? Was it really only two weeks ago that he had been fired from the Eastern League and told he could never play baseball again?
Maybe less: "It must have been eight days ago