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"Alex Belth's Stepping Up serves as a useful primer on the life of a major leaguer who shouldn't need one."
"Looking for a great baseball beach read? Alex Belth's "Stepping Up," a wonderful tale about Curt Flood, is a splendid reminder that once upon a time, athletes really did stand for more than the bottom line of their contract."
"One of the most important players in the game's history in terms of moral leadership, Flood has remained until now a man without a biography. Alex Belth's stirring and hugely readable "Stepping Up" plugs a significant gap in the history of baseball's turbulent 1960s and early 1970s."
"Flood, the man who told Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, "After 12 years in the major leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold," was the true torchbearer of Jackie Robinson's legacy, and Mr. Belth gives him his due. "His life," Mr. Belth writes, "took a course that never in his wildest dreams he could have imagined as a scrawny kid making trick catches on the ballfields of Oakland. He took a simple stand against baseball,based on simple principles of truth and justice - principles he held on to when it would have been so much easier to let them go."
"[In Belth's book] we hear recollections that go far beyond memories of a pivotal defensive play or late-inning home run. There is the rich detail of seemingly minor moments, as when black St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Bob Gibson, testing his young white teammate Tim McCarver, asks him for a sip of soda on the team bus. After thinking it over, McCarver says, 'I'll save you some.'"
"This is one of the many chapters in baseball's history that explain the abiding distrust players hold for team owners."
"Belth did a thorough job of research and does not gloss over Flood's flaws -- as a father, a husband, a businessman, even a ballplayer. I was particularly struck by a 36-year-old editorial cartoon from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that depicts Flood as a selfish player whose lawsuit only served to benefit him financially."
"As Belth writes, Flood was a man of dignity who put his civil rights ahead of his career."
"First-time author Alex Belth, who's best known as the lead writer for the internet's Bronx Banter, has done a commendable job of recounting Flood's life, while placing some of his struggles in the proper racial perspective of the 1950s, sixties, and seventies. Belth tells stories well, mixing in just enough baseball with readable anecdotes from Flood's tumultuous life, which included bouts with alcohol and recurring financial problems. The book also sheds some clarifying light on what can be complicated issues—baseball's reserve clause and the sport's anti-trust exemption. In both cases, Alex explains the legalese in layman's term, making the reading relatively quick and easy."
"In lively, conversational prose, Alex Belth provides fascinating details and anecdotes about Flood's Cardinals, the Negro Leagues, and many of the dramatic differences in baseball—and America—between Flood's era and today. Including a foreword by acclaimed broadcaster Tim McCarver (who, as a player, was traded with Flood to the Phillies), Stepping Up is the compelling tale of a ballplayer's desire to make a difference."
"I have to highly recommend Alex Belth's terrific new book on Curt
Flood...Alex does a terrific job of telling a story not many people know all that
well."
"Belth is a fine wordsmith; the pages fly by, both interesting and
informative."
"Belth approaches the complications of Flood's case brought about by the fact
that Flood was black, and his book is at its best when Belth is telling the
story of Flood's fight. Belth skillfully gives his readers a fine perspective
of the larger era and the Flood's situation by drawing on the views and
reactions of those around the game and Flood at the time. [Belth's] accessibility as
a storyteller is refreshing in the era of baseball books as statistical texts
and zealous fan remembrances. I highly recommend reading this book."
"Belth's book gives a vivid account of the life and times of one of sport's
true pioneers. This is a must must read for fans of baseball or any sport."
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