This is the first biography of one of the most adventurous and influential figures in baseball history. John Montgomery Ward, an orphan, began his adult life with the inauspicious distinction of being expelled from Penn State University. However, he went on to refashion himself into a wealthy sports idol, feared radical, and businessman.

Born in 1860, Ward pushed himself and the cutting edge of sports as hard as he could until his death in 1925. Despite his experience at Penn State, he earned two degrees from Columbia University. As a baseball player, Ward starred on four world champion teams. As a pitcher, Sandy Koufax is the closest match-up to his career statistics; as a shortstop, the nearest counterpart is Ozzie Smith. However, he was as famous for his stormy affairs with Broadway actresses as he was for his statistics. Outside of the stadium, Ward was an early players' rights attorney who, by age 25, founded the first union for athletes, and in 1886 attempted to bring black players into the major leagues Ward led a rebellion of players against the National League in 1890, only to see his union and the Players' League snuffed out. Ward finished his life as an early American golfing star and the happy husband of a women's suffragist.

This important biography traces early American baseball and sports labor history, and includes photographs of Ward, his family, and his friends, including early baseball compatriots.