".there can be no doubt that Appel has done yeoman work in the resurrection business, writing a spritely tale based on his own knowledge of baseball history and on painstaking research in the newspapers of the day. He brings Kelly alive again." -- The Sporting News "A wild, lusty account of this Hall of Fame batting champion." -- Baseball Weekly "Appel's pleasing writing style and penchant for accuracy and detail make this book one of the year's best baseball biographies." -- Yankees Magazine "Appel's lively book helps to recover an American icon of the 1880s." -- Choice Reviews ".the rollicking biography of Mike "King" Kelly, superstar of the 1880s and 1890s who lived fast and died young.

The recent rediscovery of 19th-century baseball by today's authors is most welcome." -- Times and Post-Intelligencer "Well written, and I was amazed at how much research you had done to uncover all the details of a very interesting life.A very important lesson in the start of our national game.Bravo!, Marty." --Lee McPhail, Former American League President "I don't know of any other book that has gone into such explicit (and fascinating) detail about not just Kelly but day-to-day life in 19th century big league baseball." --Robert Creamer, Former Editor, Sports Illustrated "What strikes me more than anything is the amount of diligent research that went into this project.[Kelly].come[s] alive, out of the mist and so has the time in which he played and boozed.

" --Ray Robinson, author of Iron Hourse: Lou Gehrig in His Time "[This book]. has so much energy and spirit. returns to life such a terrific character that it is in a class by itself. I feel greatly honored that I was asked to write the forward." --Larry Ritter, Author of The Glory of Their Times "Appel.wrote the moving biography of Kelly from enormous research sources. The photographs of the 19th century star and the game as it looked a hundred years ago are worth the price of the book.The Kelly book is worth a delightful afternoon.

" --Maury Allen.