Curtis Charles Flood played 15 years of Major League Baseball from 1956 to 1971. He batted .293, was a three-time All-Star, and won the Gold Glove in seven consecutive seasons, from 1963-1969 while playing centerfield for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was on three pennant-winning teams with the Cardinals and earned two World Series rings. With all that he did, it remains what he did not do that we know him for: He did not accept a trade.
At the end of the 1969 season, the Cardinals traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies, but Flood refused to go. Not only that, Flood sued Major League Baseball. In 1969, players were still bound to a team for life because a player was considered a team's property. A player's only recourse was retirement.
When Flood went to his lawyer, Marvin Miller, the lawyer told him that the courts had a history of bias towards the owners and their monopoly, so Flood did not have a chance of winning. More importantly, Miller told Flood that if he proceeded, he would never get a job in baseball again.
Flood's teammates and colleagues were skeptical of his suit and did not support him. Only two former players, Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg, showed up in support on the day he testified. No active players were there—not even Flood's outspoken teammate Bob Gibson dared to support him, all fearful of retaliation from the owners.
The case went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided against Flood 5-3 in 1972. Justice Lewis Powell, who was sympathetic to Flood, withdrew from the case because he owned stock in Anheuser-Busch, whose principal owner, Augie Busch, owned the St. Louis Cardinals. Additionally, Chief Justice Warren Berger switched from Flood's side to baseball's at the last moment, which killed Flood's case. In effect, the court ruled that yes, Flood should have the right to be a free agent, but that baseball's antitrust exemption could only be removed by an act of Congress and that free agency for players should be attained through collective bargaining.
Despite the loss, Flood's suit pressured baseball’s owners enough that Miller and the player’s union were able to bargain for binding arbitration on grievances. Finally, in 1976, when pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally agreed to play a season without a contract, arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled them free agents. The old system collapsed. Afterwards, the Players Association worked out things with management and salaries – and profits – exploded.
Flood never benefited from the revolution he helped begin. After the Supreme Court decision, he was inundated with hate mail from fans who accused him of trying to destroy baseball. His teammate Bob Gibson estimated "He got four or five death threats a day."
Early in 1995, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. The Players Association paid his medical bills. He died on January 20, 1997, two days after his 59th birthday.
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