Curt Flood: Not for Nothing

In the midst of the offseason, there is one looming force waiting to cause chaos – free agency.?Will players switch leagues? Maybe a big blockbuster trade?

With the Winter Meetings concluding this week, the free agency news has dominated the conversation, with big names like Judge (Yankees, $360 million/9 years), Verlander (Mets, $87 million/2 years), Turner (Phillies, $300 million/11 years) and others signing their mega-contracts.?Whatever happens in this offseason as a result of free agency, none of it would be possible without one man's brave and principled stand 50 years ago.?

That man was?Curtis Charles Flood. During his 15 years in the league – with the exception of the 1971 season – Flood was a fixture in centerfield for the Saint Louis Cardinals. He had a career batting average of .293 and the outfielder won 7 consecutive Golden Gloves between 1963 and 1969. A member of three pennant-winning teams, Flood won two World Series rings with the Cardinals.?

Notwithstanding these accolades and stats, Flood is better known for his stand off the field. In 1969, the Cardinals initiated a trade with the Phillies involving Flood. Not wanting to be moved around like a chess piece, Flood did not accept the trade.?

After going to his personal lawyer and Marvin Miller, founder and executive director of the Players Association, Flood decided to sue Major League Baseball.?

At the time, players were seen as a team's property due to the reserve clause. In recounting his conversations with Flood, Miller said, "I told him that given the courts' historic bias toward the owners and their monopoly, he didn't have a chance." Miller went on to advise Flood that if he followed through with the lawsuit, it was very possible that he'd never have a job in baseball again.?

That didn't matter to Flood. In a letter to the Commissioner of Baseball, Bowie Kuhn, Flood said, "I do not regard myself as a piece of property to be bought or sold." And so, Flood sued the league.?

There were plenty of skeptics – mainly teammates who were afraid to stand with Flood in fear of owner retaliations. Despite Flood's efforts, the skeptics weren't entirely wrong.?

In 1972, Flood's case went to the U.S. Supreme Court where he lost in a 5-3 decision, but only after Judge Lewis Powell withdrew due to what he called a conflict of interest – Powell held stock in Anheuser-Busch, whose principal owner also owned the Cardinals.?

The court ruled that while Flood should have the right to be a free agent, baseball's antitrust exemption could only be removed by an act of Congress. Additionally, the court decided that free agency should be obtained through collective bargaining.?

Before suing the league, Flood had told Miller that even if he wouldn't benefit from his efforts, if future players would, then it was worth it – and that is what happened.?

Miller and the union went on to bargain for binding arbitration of grievances, and in 1976, Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally were ruled free agents by arbitrator Peter Seitz.?

Though Flood never made it back to the league to reap the benefits of his fight, he was honored for it. In 1992 he was awarded the NAACP's Jackie Robinson Award for contributing to Black athletes. Two years later, Flood gave a speech on solidarity to players as they prepared to go on strike – almost 25 years to the day from when Flood announced his lawsuit.?

Sacrificing your career is no small feat, and having the courage to stand up to your employer – almost entirely alone – is truly inspiring. So, while this off-season will be full of trade rumors and free agent moves involving hundreds of millions of dollars, recall that without Curtis Charles Flood, none of it would be possible.?