Curt Flood vs. MLB

Matthew Orso

US Labor History

Thesis:

• Based on the evidence provided, I conclude that the actions of Curt Flood changed how Major League Baseball handled Labor Negotiations.

Who is Curt Flood?

• Flood was born on January 18th 1938 in Houston, Texas. He was the youngest of six children.

• He attended McClymonds High School in California, the alma mater of MLB stars Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson. Flood played Centerfield for McClymonds High School.

• He signed with the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent in 1956.

• Flood made his Major League debut with the Reds on September 9th 1956 vs. the Cardinals. He pinch ran for catcher Smokey Burgess in the eighth inning.

Who is Curt Flood? (con.)

• On December 5th, 1957, Flood was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.

• Flood played with the Cardinals from 1958-1969. He hit .293 and averaged 154 hits per season over that span.

• Flood’s best season was 1964 when he hit .311 and led the National League with 211 hits. He led the Cardinals to the World Series, where they won in seven games vs. the Yankees.

• Flood also led the Cardinals to the 1967 World Series title vs. the Boston Red Sox.

• Flood was a three-time all-star and seven-time Gold Glove award winner during his MLB career.

1969: It Begins

• On October 7th, 1969, the Cardinals traded Flood, along with three other players (including recently retired broadcaster Tim McCarver) to the Philadelphia Phillies.

• Flood was displeased by this trade for a number of reasons. (espn.com) He felt disrespected because he was informed of the trade by a minor team executive.

• Philadelphia was considered on of the worst places for an African American to play in baseball. (history.com) Flood had been constantly berated in his past trips to Philadelphia as a road player.

1969: It Begins (con.)

• Flood met with Phillies’ General Manager John Quinn in November 1969. At the time, Quinn and the Phillies offered Flood a $100,000 contract, which equates to more than $600,000 in 2014.

• Quinn had originally thought he convinced Flood to stay with the Phillies. (New York Times)

• Flood decided to contact Marvin Miller, the head of Major League Baseball’s player’s union, for council. Miller said the union would fund a lawsuit should Flood decide to file one.

1969: It Begins (con.)

• On December 24th, 1969, Flood penned a letter to Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn.

• Flood asked to be exempted from Baseball Reserve Clause, which allowed teams to trade players without the consent of the player.

1969: It Begins:

• Flood’s letter read in part:

• “After twelve years in the major leagues, I do not feel I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. I believe that any system which produces that violates my basic rights as a citizen…. I have received a contract offer from the Philadelphia club, but I believe I have the right to consider offers from other clubs before making any decision.”

1969: It Begins (con.)

• Commissioner Kuhn rejected Flood’s request.

• Flood went before the Major League Baseball’s Players Association, who gave a unanimous consent in support of Flood’s lawsuit vs. Major League Baseball.

The Legal Battle

• In 1970, Flood filed an anti-trust lawsuit in lower court to force Commissioner Kuhn into letting Flood choose his team.

• Flood would not play during his lawsuit against Kuhn and MLB. He forfeited his 1970 salary of $100,000.

• Flood was denied a preliminary injunction, which would’ve forced immediately forced Kuhn to allow Flood a choice of where to play.

The Legal Battle

• Judge Irving Ben Cooper of the Southern District of New York stated in his refusal to allow a preliminary injunction: "The game is on higher ground; it behooves every one to keep it there.” (SABR)

• Cooper did allow a trial for Flood and his legal team.

• At the time, no active Major League Baseball Players would testify, in fear they would be blackballed from Baseball.

The Legal Battle

• Notable witnesses of behalf of Flood included Baseball Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg. (history.com)

• Major League owner Bill Veeck also testified on behalf of Flood. Veeck was one of the few executives in Major League Baseball to advocate his support of Flood.

The Legal Battle

• Judge Cooper ruled in favor of Major League Baseball saying in part:

• "the preponderance of credible proof does not favor elimination of the reserve clause.”

• Flood appealed his case to the second circuit court. The second circuit also ruled in favor of Major League Baseball.

• Judge Leonard P. Moore, who was the judge in the second circuit case, stated it was unlikely this case would be picked up by the Supreme Court.

The Legal Battle

• Despite Judge Moore’s thinking, the Supreme Court chose to hear the case.

• Arthur Goldberg, a former judge, represented Flood in the Supreme Court case.

• Kuhn, who was once a litigator, was going to represent himself in the case. However he later allowed lawyers Louis Hoynes and Paul Porter to represent him.

The Legal Battle

• Oral Arguments took place in April 1972.

• Goldberg argued that baseball, along with all professional sports, was a business and should treat their employees as any other business would have to. (SABR)

• Major League Baseball counter argued by saying the reversal clause was in the best interest of the baseball. Getting rid of it would deteriorate baseball and go against “the greater good” of the sport.

The Ruling

• The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Major League Baseball by a 5-3 margin.

• One justice, Lewis Powell, recused himself from the case because he owned stock in Anheuser Busch, which owned the St. Louis Cardinals at the time.

• Despite the majority ruling in favor of Major League Baseball, the court did state that Major League Baseball was a business and should be treated as such.

Aftermath

• Flood did play one more season in Major League for the Washington Senators in 1971.

• He batted .200 in 13 games for the 1971 Washington Senators, who were led by Baseball Hall of Fame player (now manager) Ted Williams.

• Despite Williams’ support for Flood as a player, Flood decided to leave Major League Baseball. He never played in another MLB game.

Aftermath

• After the Supreme Court ruling, Flood and Miller talked to each other about the case. Below is an excerpt of that conversation according to Miller:

• "I said to Curt -- unless some miracle takes place and the Supreme Court reverses itself -- you're not going to win. And Curt, to his everlasting credit, said, 'But would it benefit all the other players and future players?' And I said, 'Yes.' And he said, 'That's good enough for me,' “ –Marvin Miller

Aftermath

• Four years after the Supreme Court case, Major League Baseball and the Players’ Association agreed to the 10/5 clause.

• The 10/5 clause allowed players who played in MLB for 10 years or for five years with one team to determine if a team could trade them or not.

• The 10/5 clause, along with future lawsuits by Major League players Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, led to the establishment of free agency. Players could now chose what team to player for after the deration of their first signed contracts. (SABR)

Aftermath

• Flood on his case during the late 1970’s:

• "As I told you before, recollecting all these things even causes me anguish. And I even hate to do interviews like this. Because I love baseball. Baseball has been extremely kind to me, and it's unfortunate that there is a part of baseball that hits me right in the kisser. The part that will probably be remembered more than the 15 years that I played professional baseball. And that is too bad."

Aftermath

• Flood on the future of baseball (stated in the late 1970’s)

• "I'm 54 years old now, Paul, and I'm retired. Baseball allows you to retire. One of the great things that came from the organization that was built to take this case to the Supreme Court also gave us the world's greatest pension fund. So out of that, even though monetarily only (Andy) Messersmith and (Dave) McNally received money, for the rest of our life, and for the rest of the lives of a lot of men that missed free agency, the pension fund that we put together can take care of them." 

Aftermath

• Flood became a portrait artist after his retirement from Major League Baseball.

• He later became a broadcaster for the Oakland Athletics during the 1978 season. Flood left broadcasting after the 1978 season.

• Flood overcame battles with alcohol and was sober for the later part of his life.

Aftermath

• Flood was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1996.

• He died from throat cancer on January 20th, 1997; just two days after his 59th birthday.

• Flood played 15 years in Major League Baseball from 1956-1969, 1971. He retired as a career .293 hitter. He had 1,861 hits, was a three-time all-star, seven-time gold glove award winner and two-time World Series champion.

• There are multiple petitions arguing for Flood to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a Labor Pioneer.

References

• http://www.baseball-almanac.com/law/Flood_v._Kuhn.shtml

• http://baseballhall.org/hall-of-fame/voting-rules-history

• http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/floodcu01.shtml

• http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/flood_curt.html

• http://www.hbo.com/sports/the-curious-case-of-curt-flood#/sports/the-curious-case-of-curt-flood/synopsis/about.html

References

• http://hudlinentertainment.com/smf/index.php?topic=8377.0

• http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/curt-flood-challenges-mlb-reserve-clause

• https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&doctype=cite&docid=9+Marq.+Sports+L.J.+391&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&key=481cefcd5291006566171400955c883f

• http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/21/sports/curt-flood-is-dead-at-59-outfielder-defied-baseball.html

References

• http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/23a120cb

• http://sabr.org/latest/40-years-supreme-court-ruled-against-curt-flood

• http://scholarship.law.umassd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=umlr