![]() The clause would have been against the law in any ordinary business, but it had been sanctioned in Major League Baseball (then adopted in other sports) by a Supreme Court ruling dating back to 1922.įlood’s suit against Major League Baseball matched the mood of a period in which civil rights were being expanded in education and politics, and in carrying forward his case, he had as his lawyer retired Supreme Court justice and former United Nations ambassador Arthur Goldberg. “I believe I have the right to consider offers from other teams before making any decisions.”įlood’s letter was a declaration of war against baseball’s reserve clause, which bound a player to the team that signed him until the team decided to trade or release him. “After twelve years in the Major Leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought or sold irrespective of my wishes,” Flood wrote Kuhn. 300 six times, was furious at learning in the fall of 1969 that he had been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. ![]() Nearly 50 years ago, on December 24, 1969, Flood wrote Bowie Kuhn, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, a letter that forever changed professional sports by altering the power team owners exercise over their players.įlood, a mainstay with the Cardinals, who in his 12 years with the team won seven Golden Gloves for his fielding and hit over. That figure is Curt Flood, a star center fielder for the St. In an era when professional athletes have become increasingly outspoken on social issues-especially those with racial implications-there’s a figure who has not gotten the credit he deserves for putting today’s players in a financial position to voice their opinions. ![]()
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