![]() He said baseball officials “were entirely incapable of understanding that a basic principle of human life was involved.” Louis.īaseball’s establishment didn’t take Flood’s intentions seriously, figuring the retirement plan was a ploy to get the Phillies to offer him an increase on his $90,000 yearly salary. Orioles scout Frank Lane, the former Cardinals general manager, told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Unless Curt Flood is better than Rembrandt, he’ll be playing for Philadelphia.”įlood, though, was offended by baseball’s reserve clause, which bound a player to a team and deprived him of the right to determine where to work. I felt unjustly cast out.”įlood issued a statement to the media, saying he would retire and focus on being a portrait artist and operating a photo studio in St. In his 1971 book, “The Way It is,” Flood said, “I took it personally. 8, 1969, Flood, who had been with the Cardinals since 1957, turned to a companion and said, “There ain’t no way I’m going to pack up and move 12 years of my life away from here. When informed of the trade on the morning of Oct. Louis,” Cardinals first baseman Bill White told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “but I was very surprised to see Flood leave St. “I wasn’t surprised to see Richie go to St. In October 1969, the Cardinals dealt Flood, catcher Tim McCarver, pitcher Joe Hoerner and outfielder Byron Browne to the Phillies for first baseman Richie Allen, pitcher Jerry Johnson and infielder Cookie Rojas. Monday through Friday on Spectrum News 1 and the Spectrum News app.Center fielder Curt Flood wasn’t bluffing when he said he’d rather quit playing than accept a trade. “So hopefully between one of these committees that the Hall of Fame has, there’s a place for Curt Flood in Cooperstown.”Ĭlick the arrow above to watch the full video. You get referred to a number of committees that the Hall of Fame has set up as essentially second chance committees,” Shaikin explained. “If you don’t make the Hall of Fame as a player. He’s never been on the ballot,” Shelly Flood said. “Interestingly enough, my father has never been nominated to be in the Hall of Fame. Shelly Flood believes her father should be a part of the exclusive Baseball Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport on and off the field. Ultimately, MLB players got free agency and other professional sports followed suit. ![]() He felt betrayed by the sport that he loved, his teammates,” Shelly Flood said. ![]() We're going to let Congress handle that.’ And he lost. But we’re not going to do anything about it. “Unfortunately, Dad lost that court case after litigating about two or three years back and forth. The suit went all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1970, Flood sued Major League Baseball for the right to negotiate his own contract. But I, a baseball player, can’t do it,’” Shaikin explained. Everybody in America gets to pick where they want to work. Curt Flood’s argument was, ‘you shouldn’t be able to tell me where I have to play. “The premise was, 'baseball had an exemption from federal antitrust law.' And so the Major League owners, the folks that own the game and run the game, are basically able to do things that other companies acting in concert would not. Although he played on a World Series championship team, LA Times sportswriter Bill Shaikin said he is most famous for what he accomplished off the field. But his daughter, Shelly Flood, is fighting to get her father into the Baseball Hall of Fame.įlood played for the Cincinnati Reds and the St. In 1970, Flood sued Major League Baseball for the right to negotiate his own contractĭespite his impact, Flood has gone largely unrecognized for his efforts.His daughter, Shelly Flood, is fighting to get her father into the Baseball Hall of Fame.Despite his impact, Flood has gone largely unrecognized for his efforts.Curt Flood was one of the most influential baseball players of all time.
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