Curt Flood changed the face of professional sports forever with one decision. He sacrificed half of his career so that other players that followed him could enjoy huge salaries that resulted from free agency. Many professional sports players do not know Curt’s huge impact on their everyday lives. He stood up for something he believed in and payed a large price for doing that. The impact he had on the game is undeniable, and yet he is not recognized for his sacrifices. Curt Flood was born January 18, 1938 in Houston Texas, the youngest of six children.
His parents were poor and worked a lot to care for their six children. When Curt was a toddler his family moved to Oakland, California. During the Second World War both of his parents worked in defense industries and then in a hospital after the war. When the war was over the family moved from East to West Oakland to escape rising racial tensions. (SABR). Curt was the fastest kind in his neighborhood when he was seven, and he joined a local midget baseball team when he was nine. He was a good kid, but had a bad influence in his older brother Carl. Carl was a heroin user, and he spend time in jail.
Curt stole a truck when he was ten, and seemed to be following in his brother’s footsteps. He switched high schools to help his sister (ESPN) and met two figures who would help him throughout the rest of his high school career. Painting was one of Curt’s hobbies and his art teacher Jim Chambers helped him learn the significance of art. Curt began to paint backdrops for school plays, and he also made some money by painting storefront displays and signs. Another significant figure in Curt’s life was the coach of his midget team and his American Legion team, George Powles. George changed the way Curt viewed hite people. This helped Curt deal with the racism he was to face throughout his life as a professional baseball player. (SABR) Bergschneider 2 In 1955 Curt led the American Legion team he played for to a state championship. He hit a phenomenal . 620 in twenty-seven games. The coach, George Powles was a low level scout for the Cincinnati Redlegs, now known as the Reds. Curt signed with Cincinnati for four thousands and headed for camp in Tampa Florida. Growing up on the west coast Curt didn’t face a lot of segregation. He faced a huge shock when he arrived south in Florida.
Curt was assigned to the Reds class B team in Thomasville, North Carolina for the 1956 season. During the year Curt led the league with a batting average of . 340 and scored 133 runs, a league record. He also hit a team record twenty nine home runs and had 128 RBls while leading the team to the pennant. Curt was also declared the league’s player of the year. Despite having a good year Curt still faced many racial problems. He was not allowed in the same hotels as his teammates and he often couldn’t eat in the same restaurants. Many of his teammates were also racist and resented him.
Sometimes Curt would cry and think of quitting because of the treatment he was facing. Instead of quitting he said “Pride was my resource. I solved my problem by playing my guts out. ” At the end of the season Curt was called up to the Cincinnati Redlegs. He made his major league debut on September 9, 1956 as a pinch runner. Despite going 0-1 in his only at-bat Curt had one of the highlights of his career when he got to play on the same field as Jackie Robinson. Curt started the 1957 season with the Redlegs but then was sent down to class and began to play third base. He hit . 99 and led the league in runs scored with 98. He was also named to two league all-star teams. Curt committed 41 errors at the new position and faced even more discrimination. Towards the end of the season Curt was called up to the Reds again. During his stint with the Reds, he collected his first Major League hit, a homerun, in three at bats. After the season was over Curt went down to South America to play winter ball. In December of 1957 he was alerted that he had been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. Curt began his first season with the cardinals at AA Omaha. After only 13 games he was called up the the club.
He quickly became the starting center fielder under Fred Hutchinson. Curt Bergschneider 3 had a decent rookie season, playing in 121 games with a . 261 Batting Average. He had a 13 game hitting streak and scored 50 runs. Fred Hutchinson was fired after the 1958 season. The new manager was Solly Hemus. Curt wasn’t a fan of the new manager because he thought Sally was racist. Curt played less in 1959 and 1960, and he hit under . 255 in both seasons. The Cardinals changed managers again in 1961 and Curt started to blossom. He hit . 322 that year and and maintained a . 302 average from 62-68.
Curt’s 211 hits in 1964 tied Roberto Clemente for the most in the league. With Curt as the center fielder the Cardinals won the World Series in 64 and 67. They were also National league champions in 1968. In ten seasons from 1959 to 1969 Curt was a three time All-Star(SABR) and won seven gold gloves in a row from 1963-1969(ESPN). Curt’s decline with the Cardinals started in the 1968 World Series. Curt misjudged an easy fly ball that led to the Cardinals losing to the Detroit Tigers in seven games. After the season was over, he also thought he should receive a larger contract than the one the Cardinals offered.
During the offseason Curt’s brother Carl came back to live with him. While living with Curt, Carl robbed a bank and was caught. The incident gave Curt and the team some bad publicity. The 1969 season was destined to fail before it began. Curt was removed as a co-captain before the season started, a title he had help for the last couple of seasons. A speech in Spring Training further demoralized the team. Curt also missed a public function during the course of the season, increasing the distance between him and the front office(SABR). At the end of the season, Curt was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies(ESPN).
Curt wasn’t a big fan of the Phillies. He didn’t want to be traded, and he didn’t want to retire(SABR). Curt had three major reasons he didn’t want to go go Philadelphia. The first reason is that he was upset because the had heard about the trade from a “underling” in the front office. He believed the GM or his manager should have told a veteran player about such a trade. He also didn’t like the city of Philadelphia, he also thought the fans were racist. The biggest reason Curt didn’t want to Bergschneider 4 be trade was because he didn’t think baseball players should be treated like commodities.
The reason Curt couldn’t be a free agent and choose who he signed with was because of the reverse clause(ESPN). The reserve clause bound a player year by year to the club that had his contract(BR). He decided to write a letter to the commissioner, Bowie Kuhn and ask to be declared a free agent. His request was denied, and rather than retire, Curt decided to take legal action. He filed his case on January 16, 1970(ESPN). Curt outlined his main reasons for suing in this statement. “Good men were dying for American and for the Constitution. In the southern part of the US we were marching for civil rights, and Dr.
King hand been assassinated, and we lost the Kennedys. And to think that merely because I was a professional baseball player, I could ignore what was going on outside the walls of Busch Stadium was truly hypocrisy, and now I found that all of those rights that those great Americans were dying for, I didn’t have in my own profession. (Curt Flood)”(BR). Curt also believed that the reserve violated various antitrust laws and the 13th Amendment(His). The case was a lose-lose situation for Curt. The public was against him after his letter to Commissioner Kuhn went public(SABR).
Many people couldn’t believed that a man who made 92,000 a year would complain about being a “slave”. Curt lost his case at lower levels, but his appeal made it all the way to the Supreme Court. He eventually lost 5-3 in a case known as Flood v. Kuhn, but his case paved the way for a 1975 decision that granted free agency. Curt sat out the 1970 season, but he signed with the Washington Senators in 1971. He played the last 13 games of his MLB career with them before heading to Europe(ESPN) after publishing his autobiography, “The Way It Is” in 1970(BR).
Curt moved to an island off the coast of Spain and opened a bar and inn. He faced a lot of trouble from alcohol and was sued by his ex-wife. Curt paid a very high price for the lawsuit. Many of the current players at the time didn’t support him, and he pretty much lost his whole career in the lawsuit. He did some painting during his time in Spain. He eventually moved to Bergschneider 5 Andorra and tried to rob a store while he was drunk. After that incident he moved back to Oakland and went through rehab. He also broadcast games of the Oakland A’s for a season.
He was featured in “Baseball” produced by PBS before his death on January 20, 1977(SABR). Curt Flood’s legacy still lives on after his death. His decision allowed players like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant to gain huge contracts through free agency(MLB). Curt was named by Time as one of the top 10 most influential athletes of the century(SABR). His Hall of Fame case is still persistent, as he had a very good career before the 1969 season. He received 7 Gold Gloves, won two WS rings, appeared in three ASG games, and had a . 293 lifetime BA.
Along with all of his statistical achievements, Curt also changed the way contracts of players would be dealt with forever. Curt Flood was perhaps the most influential professional sports player in the twentieth century. His decision to sue Major League Baseball changed the way professional sports would be played forever. Curt was a martyr for a cause that didn’t even recognize him until long after this death. Many fans and players still don’t know the man who altered professional sports into a new way of free agency, no trade clauses, and multi million dollar contracts.
