Darryl Brock

I really enjoy baseball and it is one of the few sports that I casually follow and might enjoy watching a game or two of. I also love historical fiction and time travel. Put them all together and what have you got? A book I'll love!

Sam is a newspaper reporter down on his luck. His marriage is over, his kids barely see him, and he drinks too much. On an Amtrak ride, he hits his head and comes to in 1869. He makes friends with the Cincinnati Red Stockings and follows them around during their show more unbeatable 1869 season. The beginning started out hard since there were a lot of names to learn and arcane baseball rules that didn't make sense, but after about 30 pages in, I got into the swing of things and really started to enjoy it.

The book has a fair amount of intrigue - spies, mysteries, and conspiracies, and there is a romance, so if baseball isn't your thing, there is enough of the other aspects to hold your attention a bit. By the middle of the book, the pace had picked up enough that it was hard for me to put the book down. show less

OK. If you buy the premise that a down on his luck newspaper writer, taking a train to Cleveland, wakes up at a station in 1869 - 130 years earlier, you will enjoy this work! He makes acquaintance with, befriends and finally accompanies pro baseball's original team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings through their undefeated inaugural 1869 season. It rings true to the records of the time and offers fascinating eye witness account of events. But beyond that, the adventures are fast and furious and show more mostly believable. However, some are not. This stopped me from rating this 5 stars instead of 4. Enjoyable, fast paced and recommended for folks who enjoy a good novel that includes baseball, time travel and post Civil War America. show less

A superbly researched book, I give the author 5 stars in his research on the history of baseball and life in the 19th century. Although the story failed to grab my full attention I loved the concept within the plot. A man whose life has taken a drastic turn for the worse with a divorce, etc miraculously travels back in time where he finds himself again.

The bulk of the story is about the protagonist's life in the 19th century and the people there that become his friends, oh ya, plenty of show more Baseball, you really feel like your living back in time experiencing life as it was.

If you love baseball and enthralled about the early days of baseball read this book. The story didn't move that fast for me with too much detail between the lines I just wasn't as enthralled as much with it to give it more than 2 stars. Maybe 2.5 but seeing I skimmed most of the book it can't be much higher for me. show less

I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. It is a great time-travel book as well as an intriquing and engaging way to write historical fiction as adventure.