Happy Birthday Curt Flood

by Eric Simon on Jan 18, 2009 11:09 AM EST

Curt Flood, who would have been 71 today, had a nice little career with the Cardinals in the late fifties and throughout the sixties, picking up a few MVP votes and actually finishing fourth in 1968. Flood is scarcely remembered for his player career, though. His baseball legacy was his challenging of the reserve clause when the Cardinals tried to deal him to a dreadful Phillies team before the 1970 season. Flood refused to report to the Phillies, and instead petitioned Major League Baseball for the right to sign with whomever he chose. His letter to commissioner Bowie Kuhn stated his intentions clearly:

December 24, 1969

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 and of the several 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.

Kuhn rebuffed Flood's attempt at free agency, so Flood turned around and sued Major League Baseball for violating antitrust laws. The case eventually went to the US Supreme Court, which favored MLB's case by a 5-3 majority.

Flood was subsequently traded by the Phillies to the Washington Senators but played only thirteen games in 1971 before retiring. Four years later Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally helped strike down the reserve clause for good, but Flood's earlier battle revealed a chink in the owners' armor that helped facilitate the players' drive to free agency.

Happy Birthday, Curt.

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Kudos to Curt

Today’s players owe their gigantic paychecks to him, even though he was only fighting for a little piece of mind. After all, who would want to be traded to the Phillies?

"When the little children start to speak they once said 'Mama' and 'Papa', but with the fans we got they say the first thing, 'Metsie, Metsie, Metsie'." - Casey Stengel

by Prince on Jan 18, 2009 1:39 PM EST reply actions

Beyond the Boxscore

Did a nice series on free agency.

by JobiJoba on Jan 18, 2009 1:50 PM EST reply actions

Also

We owe better overall baseball to Flood. When owners could simply pay their players nothing, they had less incentive to invest resources to top-of-the-line talent evaluation. Even now, teams don’t do it. When putting a team on the field became an immense expense, bad teams became expensive, and stupidly built teams became impossibly expensive. Hopefully the Mets will not continue to be a case-in-point of the latter.

by JobiJoba on Jan 18, 2009 1:54 PM EST reply actions

Still learning

Wow! Never knew about Kurt Flood and his impact on MLB. Definitely interesting. Though, it seems to me that players are all too willing to be treated like a piece of property (by their respective agents) these days. Their agents seem to dictate where the player is going based on how much he (the player) can get in the open market. The player’s attitude is basically: “Sure. Just get me what I’m worth. I don’t care where I go.”

Off the top of my head I’m thinking Manny fits that description as well a A-Rod when he went to the Rangers a while back. Etc., etc. I thought about Mark Teixeira fitting that description because early reports said that he wanted to go to Baltimore/Washington because he was raised in that area. His wife wasn’t down with that, and he wanted to be on a contender. To the Yankees he went, so he doesn’t fit into that category.

" PLEASE! CHANGE THE PATCH! "

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Jan 18, 2009 4:20 PM EST reply actions

I've never had this clearly explained

Flood lost his case,thereby upholding the reserve clause. What happened between then and Messersmith/McNally that changed the system?

by Reg Dunlop on Jan 18, 2009 10:07 PM EST reply actions

It was struck down by an arbitrator

Just three years after Flood vs. Kuhn, players Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally once again challenged the reserve clause. This time, instead of a trial in a court of law, an independent arbitrator heard the case. And in December 1975, the players finally won the right to free agency, when arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled that the reserve clause granted a team only one additional year of service from a player, putting an end to perpetual renewal right the clubs had claimed for so long.

Source here.

'Oh yes, I know all about that duty-of-a-citizen stuff. It doesn't go. There are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. When a man risks his liberty to come and root at a ball-game, you've got to hand it to him. He isn't a crook. He's a fan.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jan 18, 2009 10:32 PM EST up reply actions