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The Story of Curt Flood and His Fight for Baseball Players' Rights
By Alex Belth
The recent death of our nation's beloved civil rights icon Rosa Parks has led our country to recall the struggle for equality, just as the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education did two years ago. Now during Black History month just around the corner, we may also recall the struggle of sports hero Jackie Robinson. But there is another black baseball player who rose up in the name of freedom. During the tumultuous years of the 1960's, Curt Flood fought on behalf of all baseball players for the right to choose which team they played for, suing Major League Baseball in a case that would take him all the way to the Supreme Court.
Alex Belth's STEPPING UP: The Story of Curt Flood and His Fight for Baseball Players' Rights (Persea Books/April 4, 2006/$22.95) is the first biography of the three-time All-Star who paved the way for free agency, one of the most important developments in professional sports. Belth's highly accessible book chronicles Flood's extraordinary life: his formative years in Oakland, his harrowing experience in the minor leagues in the Deep South, his decade with the championship St. Louis Cardinals, and finally, his off-the-field battle against an unjust and seemingly unalterable system. Vivid detail, fascinating facts and anecdotes, and exciting season-by-season coverage of the Cardinals round out this compelling tale of a ballplayer and his desire to make a difference.
Bob Costas, the acclaimed sportscaster and talk show host for NBC and HBO sports, notes, "Considering the historical significance of Curt Flood's principled stand and the personal courage and sacrifice it entailed, it is both surprising and sad that the man and his contribution have not been fully appreciated. Alex Belth's carefully researched and presented book should be of interest to all those who follow baseball and perhaps especially to those who are now so handsomely rewarded for playing it." And Pat Jordan, author of the classic baseball book, A False Spring, notes that "Although this is Belth's rookie endeavor as a writer, he already has a veteran's understanding of his craft."
STEPPING UP tells the story of a man whose fight for freedom makes him relevant beyond the world of baseball.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Alex Belth works for Time Inc. and is a contributing columnist for SportsIllustrated.com. He worked on Ken Burns' Baseball documentary and has also worked with such film luminaries as Woody Allen and the Coen Brothers. A contributing writer for many baseball publications, Belth has interviewed Michael Lewis, Jane Leavy, Jim Bouton, Bill James, and many others. Belth, who currently lives in the Bronx, hosts Bronx Banter, a popular Yankees-based blog.
TITLE: STEPPING UP: The Story of Curt Flood and His Fight for Baseball
Players' Rights
AUTHOR: Alex Belth
PUBLISHER: Persea Books
PUB DATE: April 4, 2006
PRICE: $22.95
PAGES: 240
ISBN # 0-89255-321-9
PERSEA BOOKS
853 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
TEL 212.260.9256 o FAX 212.260.1902
publicity@perseabooks.com o www.perseabooks.com
Praise for Stepping Up: The Story of Curt Flood and His Fight for Baseball Players' Rights
"Considering the historical significance of Curt Flood's principled stand and the personal courage and sacrifice it entailed, it is both surprising and sad that the man and his contribution have not been fully appreciated. Alex Belth's carefully researched and presented book should be of interest to all those who follow baseball and perhaps especially to those who are now so handsomely rewarded for playing it."
-Bob Costas
"Curt Flood sparked a baseball revolution and has long deserved a serious biography. He finally has an excellent one in Alex Belth's Stepping Up, a dramatic recounting of how this All-Star outfielder threw away his career to throw off his fellow players' shackles."
-John Helyar, author of The Lords of the Realm and Barbarians at the Gate
"A wonderful book: clear, concise, and to the point. Although this is Alex Belth's rookie endeavor as a writer, he already has a veteran's understanding of his craft. He stands aside and lets Flood's story tell itself. Stepping Up belongs in the library of every baseball fan."
-Pat Jordan, author of A False Spring
"The two most important events in Major League Baseball since the Second World War were Jackie Robinson's arrival in 1947 and the arrival of free agency in 1976. Robinson blazed the trail for players like Curt Flood. And Flood repaid his debt to Robinson by advancing the rights of all players. Because of his courage and sacrifices, the national pastime is more true to the nation's ideals. He was Dred Scott in spikes, and in Stepping Up we have a valuable account of his role as indispensable actor in the drama that produced the emancipation of major league baseball players from an unjust system of restraints."
-George F. Will, author of Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball
"Stepping Up is a fascinating look at one man's struggle to make it in the big leagues and his efforts to change the way baseball players are treated. An invaluable book for anyone who wants to know what the baseball industry was really like."
-Walter Dean Myers, author of The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
"This is a wonderful, heroic story of a great ballplayer and an even greater man."
-Ken Burns |
