Serious hard ball – Interesting premise at the heart of Lynn native’s new baseball book

If Sean Deveney wrote it, people are going to want to read it.

Deveney, a Class of 1992 graduate of Lynn English High School and one of the foremost sportswriters in the country, will be at Kelley Greens in Nahant Saturday at 6:30 p.m. to sign copies of his new book, “The Original Curse: Did the Cubs Throw the 1918 World Series to Babe Ruth’s Red Sox and Incite the Black Sox Scandal?”

Deveney’s book, which is published by McGraw-Hill, hit major bookstores on October 1 and sales have been brisk.

“It’s out, it’s on the shelves and it’s actually selling pretty well,” reported Deveney, a senior writer for Sporting News magazine. “I’m really humbled by the response. They’re sold out. They’re doing a second run of the book right now. They sold the first editions way more quickly than they thought.”

The book is about the 1918 World Series and the possibility that the Chicago Cubs threw that series to the Boston Red Sox.

What was the inspiration for Sean Deveney to explore the tantalizing possibility that the 1918 World Series was tainted?

“I was at the Chicago History Museum and while I was waiting to do an interview the curator told me the museum had a bunch of documents from the 1919 Black Sox trial that hadn’t been seen before,” related Deveney. “One of the documents was a deposition that Eddie Cicotte gave and the question they asked him was: where did you get the idea to throw the World Series in 1919.

“Cicotte answered, ‘Well, we had heard the Cubs did it the year before and they got paid $10,000 to throw the series to Boston,’ “so he figured if they could do it, why not us?’’

Deveney said he was surprised to read such a revelation about the 1918 World Series, the Sox last victory in the fall classic before the team broke an 86-year drought by winning the 2004 World Series. The Sox added another title in 2007.

“Having grown up in Boston, you always hear about 1918 and for so long that was the last Series the Sox had won,” said Deveney. “To find out that the players at that time thought that the Cubs threw the World Series to the Red Sox – that was a bit of a shock for me.”

Deveney wrote an article about the subject in Sporting News magazine and McGraw-Hill contacted him about writing a book.

One year later, Deveney has produced The Original Curse, a fascinating new chapter in baseball history that is sure to spark debate among baseball fans and history buffs in the present day.

Deveney, a former reporter for the Daily Item of Lynn, is a senior writer at Sporting News, having worked at the national magazine for 10 years. The son of Bill and Cathi Deveney, he is a graduate of Northwestern University. Deveney was the commencement speaker at the Lynn English High School graduation ceremony two years ago.

He has been a regular guest on ESPN, Fox News, CNN, CBS, and MSNBC television shows and appears on numerous radio shows around the country.

The instant success of Deveney’s first book comes as no surprise to people who have been following his sportswriting career. He has long been recognized for his journalistic excellence, his creativity, and his ability to enlighten readers of all ages. The Original Curse, marking his debut as an author, affirms his stature as one of the most respected writers in the country.

People are encouraged to visit Deveney’s Website for the book: www.originalcurse1918.com

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