A Man of Principle!
Curt Flood was a MLB ball player for fifteen years, mostly with the St. Louis Cardinals. His real mark in the game occurred off the field rather than on it. He was a very talented outfielder but his real contribution to baseball was the stand he took when he was traded in 1969. The Cardinals traded Curt that year but he refused to accept it as he felt it was unfair to be arbitrarily “sold” to another team. He sued MLB and eventually the case reached the US Supreme Court. Although Flood lost the appeal, he helped pave the way to rid baseball of the reserve clause. His stand, at great personal loss, led to player solidarity to fight the reserve clause and the creation of free agency! This action eventually established that the reserve clause was in fact a form of slavery and players were without any recourse.
In the1970 case, Flood v Kuhn, Curt requested free agency. Albeit, his loss basically ended his career, but it led to MLB agreeing to the 10/5 rule (aka the Curt Flood Rule). A player with 10 years of MLB service and with the last 5 years with the same team, could now veto a trade! His long term legacy, after his death in 1997, was the passing of a federal antitrust law protecting MLB players and the Curt Flood Act of 1998 was passed as well. After his court loss, Curt left baseball and died without seeing his real contribution to baseball…. free agency!
Career Highlights
.293 career BA; 1861 hits; 636 RBI; Led the NL in hits with 211 (1964); Hit over .300 seven times.
3 time All Star; 7 Golden Gloves; 2 time World Champion; Led the league in Fielding % 3 times.
Curt’s Quotes
1. “I am a human being not a piece of property. I am not a consignment of goods!”
2. “Baseball was socially relevant, and so was my rebellion against it!”
3. “People try to make a Greek tragedy of my life and they cannot do it…I am too happy!”
4. “The baseball establishment is permissive about revelry!”
Curt was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinal Hall of Fame and awarded the Jackie Robinson Award in 1994. His book, The Way It Is, was a best seller and pivotal in publicizing the plight of professional baseball players. He was also a character in Philip Roth’s book, Our Gang.
“Baseball didn’t change Curt Flood, Curt Flood changed baseball!” |