In a year when all bios seem to feature McGwire or Sosa...Baseball's Radical for All Seasons fills a real void...well-researched profile of Ward.
Baseball Illustrated
Ward was among the most fascinating figures of the 19th century.
Jerome Holtzman, official historian for Major League Baseball
Chicago Tribune
Ward made much more than baseball history. He made ... Read moreAmerican history. Every baseball fan and historian should read this remarkable book.
Bill Gleason
The Sports Writers
...brings Ward to life in all his fiery glory. David Stevens follows his early travels thoroughly and in a chronological order that is easily traced...a fascinating glimpse into the life of an early baseball pioneer...excellent research and many stories of his exploits.
Journal of Sport History
Player, manager, labour leader, [Ward's] life offers a window on many of the conflicts of professional baseball in the late nineteenth century...Readers learn much concerning the game on the field at the end of the nineteenth century, how major leaguers understood themselves then, a considerable history of baseball in New York and its relation to New York fashion at the turn of the twentieth century and the history of the reserve clause and baseball's relation to the struggles of capital and labour.
International Journal of the History of Sport
If you are a baseball fan you will enjoy this book. If you like to read biographies of fascinating individuals from a much younger America, this book will most certainly hold your attention. You will find this book a most valuable read...Stevens has hit a home run with his first book.
James Dworkin, Associate Dean, Purdue University Show Less