Curt Flood was a dazzling center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals when, in 1969, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. But instead of accepting his fate, Flood shocked baseball by suing the sport over its Reserve Clause, an age-old rule that bound players to their teams in perpetuity. His extraordinary case went all the way to the Supreme Court and helped pave the way for major advancements in the rights of professional athletes.
Stepping Up is Flood's astonishing story. Accessible to teens but of interest to baseball fans of all ages, it begins with Flood as a an artistic black kid in Oakland, and continues with his eye-opening experience as a minor leaguer in the racist South. It describes Flood's years with the exciting Cardinals teams of the 1960s (with teammates like Stan Musial, Joe Torre, and Bob Gibson), and his increasing frustrations with baseball's mistreatment of players-especially blacks. The book culminates with his historic suit, which changed his life and the sports world forever.
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.

Alex Belth is the author of Lasting Yankee Stadium Memories and Stepping Up, a critically acclaimed biography of Curt Flood, and a regular contributor to SportsIllustrated.com. After eight years spent working in the film industry for such notable filmmakers as Ken Burns, Woody Allen, and the Coen Brothers, Belth in 2002 founded BronxBanterBlog.com (now part of SNY TV's blog network), which has become one of the most popular New York Yankees sites on the Internet. A lifelong Yankees fan, he lives with his wife in the Bronx, New York.