Honor And Loyalty Steal Home In The Segregated South

It takes more than heart to win a championship. It takes teamwork, equipment, and most of all, a great coach. In southern Louisiana in 1957, the best coach Ronnie LeBlanc can find for his struggling American Legion Baseball team is black. Based on a true story, Stealing First (Legacy Publishing) by Drew Golden is a tale of poverty, corruption and bias, and ultimately, a powerful message of honor and camaraderie.

In the steamy heat of a Louisiana summer, the Nina Redbirds challenge Breaux Bridge’s Bayou Braves for the regional American Legion Baseball championship. Ronnie LeBlanc, the Redbirds’ talented pitcher, believes winning the regional title is his only chance to escape a hard-scrabble life and a dead-end job at the local sugar mill. He dreams of playing major league baseball – a dream that soon turns into fierce ambition and eventually an obsession.

But his dream begins to evaporate with a string of losses and forfeitures, and as a final blow, the Redbirds’ coach quits. Only one man is willing to help the struggling team: former Negro League pitcher Scoot Groshon. In the deep south in the 1950s, the color of his skin makes Groshon a potential liability for the team. Baseball was strictly segregated and intolerance was strangling talent across the country.