Baseball’s Freedom Fighter

Baseball’s Freedom Fighter

The 1960’s were a decade of upheaval. Outcry spilled out into the streets as angry demonstrators protested against the Vietnam War; Civil Rights marches occupied a segregated South; and the Black Power movement swept through the Negro community with persuasive authority. In the midst of all of this social change stood one man, St. Louis Cardinal’s centerfielder Curt Flood. Fueled by the turmoil of his times, Flood started his own social movement, a one-man struggle for freedom on the baseball diamond. Flood an accomplished baseball player had endured twelve years in the Major Leagues, a victim of unwarranted discrimination in a still racist nation. In 1969, Flood became a pioneer, making an historic decision that ended his baseball career at the age of 31. Against the advice of the Major League Baseball’s Players Union, Flood refused to accept his trade to the Philadelphia Phillies after the end of the 1969 season. When Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn refused to let him out of baseball’s reserve clause, which allowed for a player to be traded without his consent and made it impossible for a player to choose to play for another team, Flood took his case all the way to the Supreme Court (Ashe 61). When the case finally made its way through the courts system, Flood’s playing career was lost but a whole new era of baseball had begun. Flood stands as the pivotal figure that changed the balance of power in the game.

The story of Curt Flood is one of tragic sacrifice and poignant courage. It is the story of a ball player giving up the game he loved for nothing more than a principle. Flood’s famous “I am a Man,” statement illustrated his belief that baseball was treating him unfairly (Burns, The Eighth Inning). Flood also penned these thoughts in a letter he sent to Kuhn on Christmas Eve of 1969, writing, “I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes” (Burns, The Eighth Inning). Craving the freedom to choose what team he played for, Flood would not accept the notion that he had no control over his own destiny as a baseball player. Flood however, stood alone in his fight. At his court hearing no active baseball player would testify on his behalf.