Photo: Megan Ellis / Unsplash
By Charles Collier
The name Curt Flood probably is not well known among modern professional baseball fans. But it should be. Curt Flood was not only a great Major League Baseball player in the 1960s, he bravely challenged the owner-favored economics of the sport, paving the way for the free agency system that is a mainstay of baseball today.
Curt Flood was a phenomenal athlete with a unique combination of speed, quickness, and agility, and married it with a competitive desire to win. He spent his over-15-year career mostly with the St. Louis Cardinals. He batted over .300 in six seasons, was a three-time All-Star, and seven-time Gold Glove winner. He played on three National League championship teams, two of which won the World Series. He retired with the third most games in center field (1,683) in NL history, behind only Willie Mays and Richie Ashburn.
More importantly, Curt Flood was more than a baseball player. He was a civil rights activist, a business owner, and highly intelligent. On October 8, 1969, Curt Flood, Tim McCarver, Joe Hoerner, and Byron Browne were traded from St. Louis to the Phillies for Richie Allen, Cookie Rojas and Jerry Johnson. Flood was flabbergasted! He had given his heart and soul to the Cardinals, and after 12 seasons he was being traded. What’s more, in 1969 Philadelphia was one of the most racist cities in America, so Flood had no desire to play there.
Unfortunately for Flood, at that time a player who was being traded had only two options: report to his new team or retire. This was largely due to the “reserve clause” that was found in all Major League Baseball players’ contracts. Specifically, Paragraph 10(a) of the Uniform Player Contract stated, “The club shall have the right to renew a player contract for a period of one year.” Based on this clause, a team could renew a player’s contract for another season at as little as 80 percent of the previous season’s salary.
Flood saw that the reserve clause kept players on their teams for life – or could trade them without the player’s wishes – while denying players the ability to test the market or sign with other teams.
Flood was outraged by the trade and saw the reserve system as akin to modern day slavery. He decided to challenge the reserve system by himself. In 1969, Flood jeopardized his $90,000 per year salary when he wrote a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, stating:
After twelve years in the major leagues, I do not feel I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. I believe that any system which produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States.
It is my desire to play baseball in 1970, and I am capable of playing. I have received a contract offer from the Philadelphia Club, but I believe I have the right to consider offers from other clubs before making any decision. I, therefore, request that you make known to all Major League clubs my feelings in this matter and advise them of my availability for the 1970 season.
After Kuhn denied Flood’s request, in January 1970 Flood filed a courageous $1 million lawsuit against Kuhn and Major League Baseball, alleging violation of federal antitrust laws. The case made its way to the United States Supreme Court. Unfortunately for Flood and ball players, in 1972 the court ruled in favor of Major League Baseball and its reserve clause.
Despite the loss in the Supreme Court, Flood’s litigation motivated the player’s union to continue to fight against the reserve clause, and it was finally removed in 1975 by an arbitrator who ruled that two other players were eligible to negotiate contracts with any team. A year later, in 1976, the players’ union and the owners agreed to a contract that included provisions permitting free agency.
In 1998, the federal government passed the Curt Flood Act. Signed into law by President Clinton, this law revoked Major League Baseball’s antitrust status. In so doing, the law carries out what Flood always wanted: it stops owners from controlling the players’ careers.
Curt Flood’s heroic lawsuit was the catalyst for today’s free agency system, and baseball is better for it. Fans have to wonder, however, whether Flood’s player activism has cost him proper honor in the sport. He should have been inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame based on his play on the field. He is not in the Hall, though, as it appears he is still being punished for standing up to the baseball establishment. It will be a great day when he is rightfully inducted into the Hall of Fame and is recognized as being one of the best center fielders of all time. On top of that, Major League Baseball should establish a Curt Flood Day to recognize the contributions and impact he made to the nation’s pastime.