Curt Flood Challenges the Reserve Clause

By Wikipedia

On October 7, 1969, the St. Louis Cardinals traded Curt Flood, catcher Tim McCarver, outfielder Byron Browne, and left-handed pitcher Joe Hoerner to the Philadelphia Phillies for first baseman Dick Allen, second baseman Cookie Rojas, and right-handed pitcher Jerry Johnson.

However, Flood refused to report to the moribund Phillies, citing the team's poor record and the fact that they played in dilapidated Connie Mack Stadium before belligerent, and, Flood believed, racist fans. Curt Flood forfeited a relatively lucrative $100,000 contract by his refusal to be traded to the Phillies.

In a Christmas Eve 1969 letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, Curt Flood demanded that the commissioner declare him a free agent:

After twelve years in the Major Leagues, I do not feel that 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 decisions. 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.

You can view a copy of the original letter as well as Kuhn's response here. Kuhn's unwillingness to comply with Flood's unprecedented demands led to Flood to file a lawsuit against Kuhn and Major League Baseball on January 16, 1970, alleging that Major League Baseball had violated federal antitrust laws.

Even though Flood was making $90,000 at the time, he likened the reserve clause to slavery. Arguably, it was a controversial analogy, even among those who opposed the reserve clause. Even so, Americans have long been free to move to a new city and apply for positions in their chosen field. Not so for professional athletes and, thanks to the ridiculous antitrust exception the business of baseball had long enjoyed, particularly not for professional baseball players. It seems the incredibly rich owners believed whole heartedly in capitalism, except as it related to their employees, who they bought, sold, and traded much as slave owners had for hundreds of years prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. Owners certainly would not have stood for being bought and sold by the communities that made their fortunes possible.

The resulting case, Flood v. Kuhn, (407 U.S. 258,) eventually found itself before the Supreme Court. Flood's attorney, former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, asserted that the reserve clause depressed wages and limited players to one team for life.

Major League Baseball's counsel countered that Commissioner Kuhn acted under the way he did '"for the good of the game."

A slim majority in the Supreme Court, stating they were acting on stare decisis "to stand by things decided" (which is what justices often do when they don't have the courage to admit that they simply agree with the previous ruling), ruled 5-3 in favor of Major League Baseball, upholding a controversial 1922 ruling in the case of Federal Baseball Club v. National League, (259 U.S. 200.) Had sleazy Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas managed his questionable affairs more carefully and hadn't had to resign in 1969, the vote may well have been 4-4. In fact, had the Democrats won the '68 election or had Flood had filed his case following the 1967 season, the vote in a court with a more Labor-friendly composition may well have been 5-3 in favor of Flood.

Aftermath and Curt Flood's post-baseball life

Curt Flood sat out the entire 1970 season. Eventually, the Cardinals were forced to give up two minor leaguers to the Phillies for compensation, one of which, centerfielder Willie Montanez, had a good big league career albeit for several teams. Meanwhile, Curt Flood returned with the Washington Senators in 1971. The year away from the game at his age along with the stress of becoming an outcast within his sport were too much; his short tenure with the Senators was a failure. Pitcher Bob Gibson later wrote that Flood once returned to his locker to find a funeral wreath on it. Despite manager Ted Williams' vote of confidence, Flood retired after only playing in 13 games and batting .200. Later that year, he wrote an autobiography entitled The Way It Is. He also indulged in his love of painting.

Ironically, even though Curt Flood lost the lawsuit, the reserve clause was struck down in 1975. Arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled that since pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally played for one season without a contract, they could become free agents. This decision essentially dismantled the reserve clause and opened up the door to free agency.

Shortly after his retirement, Curt Flood owned a bar in the Spanish resort town of Palma de Mallorca and he eventually returned to baseball as part of the Oakland Athletics' broadcasting team in 1978. He was also the commissioner of the short-lived Senior Baseball League in 1988.

For years a heavy drinker and smoker, Flood stopped drinking in 1978 but kept his cigarette habit. He died of throat cancer in Los Angeles, California at age 59. His legacy was remembered recently in Congress via a bill, the Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1997. It was numbered HR 21 (Flood's Cardinals uniform number) and was introduced on the first day of the 105th Congress in 1997 by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Michigan,) and removed a part of baseball's controversial antitrust exemption as it relates to player relations.