![]() In 1975, Major League Baseball began to dismantle the reserve clause, allowing players to obtain free agent status upon the conclusion of their Major League contracts. Although he lost his battle with the reserve clause, other major league players would benefit from his actions. After he retired, Flood spent time as a broadcaster for the Oakland Athletics.Ĭurtis Charles Flood passed away in 1997 at the age of 59 as a result of throat cancer. He played with the Senators for two months before quitting the team and leaving for Europe where he spent time painting and writing his autobiography The Way It Is, which was released in 1971. ![]() Supreme Court, which ruled 5-3 in favor of Major League Baseball.įlood sat out the 1970 season and was signed by the Washington Senators in 1971. Kuhn worked its way quickly through the court system to the U.S. Flood then filed a $1 million lawsuit in 1970 against Kuhn and Major League Baseball. He petitioned the League’s commissioner Bowie Kuhn to allow for him to become a free agent, which meant he would have the right to go to the team of his choice. Louis Cardinals to trade Flood without his consent. Instead he and the Major League Baseball Player’s Association (MLBPA) challenged the Major League Baseball reserve clause, which allowed for the St. Flood refused this trade, giving up a $100,000 annual salary. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies – a team which at the time had a struggling record and according to Flood, had racist fans. After the 1969 season, he was traded from the St. During his eleven seasons with the Cardinals, Flood became one of the premier outfielders in the American League, going 226 games without an error, winning the Golden Glove Award seven times and helping the Cardinals win two World Series Championships in 19.Ĭurt Flood, however, is more widely known for his actions off the baseball field. Louis Cardinals in 1958 where he played until 1969. After two seasons with the Reds, Flood was traded to the St. Showing great promise he signed a contract in 1956 with the National League Cincinnati Reds while he was an 18-year-old senior at Oakland Technical High School. “It’s such a shame that he’s not given his contribution to the betterment of the sport.Curt Flood, an American Major League Baseball player best known for his challenge of the “reserve clause,” was born Januin Houston, Texas and was raised in Oakland, California.įlood began playing baseball as a youth. Like many others who bucked the system and sacrificed their careers to make their sport better for those who would come later, Flood should be better recognized, said his son. To be frank about it, they were in the owners’ pocket.” Snyder added, “You had a lot of White sportswriters and columnists who were unsympathetic. Smith said the reporters at the time opposed Flood’s actions. “Of all the people that we know, Curt was the ideal player who could do what it required… who would give up a salary of $90,000 to $100,000,” added McCarver. “Curt made it perfectly clear that he was going to do it by himself,” said McCarver, who admitted that he wished he would have spoken out more back then in support of Flood. Save for a few-namely former players Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenburg and former owner Bill Veeck, who testified on his behalf-Flood stood alone in his fight. He said, ‘Don’t let them put the genie back in the bottle,’ and I never forgot how he delivered in that moment.” “I had the great honor of being there when Curt Flood came to speak to the players. ![]() He, along with Flood’s teammate Tim McCarver, MLB journalist and Hall-of-Famer Claire Smith, former baseball player David Cone, and Flood’s son Curt Flood, Jr., discussed the late major leaguer’s impact on the game.Ĭone recalled when Flood, nearly three years before his death due to cancer at age 59, spoke to players on solidarity as they prepared to strike. ![]() 16 Shirley Povich virtual Symposium, that current MLBer Gerrit Cole publicly thanked Flood when he signed a big deal with the New York Yankees.įlood sparked “an economic revolution,” said Georgetown Law School Professor Brad Snyder. ![]() But Merrill College Journalism Professor and veteran journalist Kevin Blackistone pointed out, as moderator of the Nov. The repeated narrative for decades is that today’s major leaguers don’t know, or care, or respect, or recognize who Flood was and what he did, journalist David Steele recently tweeted. Three years later in 1975, the reserve clause was struck down and MLB and the players union agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement that introduced free agency in 1976. Supreme Court in 1972, and the Court ruled 5-3 in favor of MLB. ![]()
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