Curt Flood was as crucial to the economic rights of ballplayers as Jackie Robinson was to breaking the color barrier. A three-time All-Star and seven-time winner of the Gold Glove for his defensive prowess in center field, Flood hit more than .300 six times during a 15-year major league career that began in 1956. Twelve of those seasons were spent wearing the uniform of the St. Louis Cardinals. After the 1969 season, the Cardinals attempted to trade Flood, then 31 years of age, to the Philadelphia Phillies, which set in motion his historic challenge of baseball’s infamous "reserve clause." The reserve clause was that part of the standard player’s contract which bound the player, one year at a time, in perpetuity to the club owning his contract. Flood had no interest in moving to Philadelphia, a city he had always viewed as racist ("the nation’s northernmost southern city"), but more importantly, he objected to being treated as a piece of property and to the restriction of freedom embedded in the reserve clause.
Flood was fully aware of the social relevance of his rebellion against the baseball establishment. Years later, he explained, "I guess you really have to understand who that person, who that Curt Flood was. I’m a child of the sixties, I’m a man of the sixties. During that period of time this country was coming apart at the seams. We were in Southeast Asia. Good men were dying for America and for the Constitution. In the southern part of the United States we were marching for civil rights and Dr. King had 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 these great Americans were dying for, I didn’t have in my own profession."
With the backing of the Players Association and with former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg arguing on his behalf, Flood pursued the case known as Flood v. Kuhn (Commissioner Bowie Kuhn) from January 1970 to June 1972 at district, circuit, and Supreme Court levels. Although the Supreme Court ultimately ruled against Flood, upholding baseball’s exemption from antitrust statutes, the case set the stage for the 1975 Messersmith-McNally rulings and the advent of free agency.
The financial and emotional costs to Flood as a result of his unprecedented challenge of the reserve clause were enormous.
In “Jackie’s Debut: A Unique Day,” is written by Mike Royko, and appeared in the Chicago Daily News on Wednesday, October 15, 1972, the day after Jackie passed away. This article is about one of the most famous and cultural African Americans to ever play the game of baseball. In the beginning of the story, there were wise men sitting in the tavern that had something to say about Jackie. They weren’t the kindest words and said that he would ruin the game of baseball. Jackie was going to be at Wrigley Field and the kid had to see him perform. Him and his friend always walked to the baseball games to avoid streetcar fare. On that day, Wrigley Field was packed. He had never seen anything like it, there were about 47,000 people there and at the
In the controversial court case, McCulloch v. Maryland, Chief Justice John Marshall’s verdict gave Congress the implied powers to carry out any laws they deemed to be “necessary and proper” to the state of the Union. In this 1819 court case, the state of Maryland tried to sue James McCulloch, a cashier at the Second Bank of the United States, for opening a branch in Baltimore. McCulloch refused to pay the tax and therefore the issue was brought before the courts; the decision would therefore change the way Americans viewed the Constitution to this day.
after that, and the Texas Rangers recruited and signed him quickly. R.A. Dickey was known for blowing
Roger was recruited by legendary coach Bud Wilkinson to play for the University of Oklahoma, but with a professional baseball contract looming, Roger gave up his scholarship at the University of Oklahoma to pursue a career in baseball. He signed a $15,000 contract to play for the Cleveland Indians organization.
Hall, Kermit L, eds. The Oxford guide to United States Supreme Court decisions New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Roger Clemens is arguably one of the greatest pitchers ever in Major League Baseball history. Clemens has built an astounding and exciting career filled with impressive statistics that may rarely be duplicated. His career extends from the early 1980’s into the new millennium, and continues today. During this stretch, nicknamed “The Rocket”, he won more Cy Young awards, seven, than any other pitcher in MLB history. The Cy Young award is given annually to the League’s best pitcher. In 2003 he won the 300th game of his career. He is only one of four MLB pitchers in all time to pass the 4,000 strikeout mark.
In 1947 Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers desperately wanted Robinson to play for him and his team. He would become the first black MLB player since 1889 when baseball became discriminated. In his first year he was the Rookie of the Year. He debuted in the International League with the Montreal Royals. This the led to Branch’s interest in Robinson since he was considered one of the best players in the International League and considering it was his first time playing with white men.
Jackie Robinson changed baseball in America in the 1940s by breaking the segregation barrier that was bestowed on baseball. Robinson played in the Negro League for the Kansas City Monarchs. In 1945 Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers negotiated a contract with Robinson that would bring Robinson into the major leagues in 1947. Baseball was segregated because of racial intolerance, economic factors, and other complex reasons. The major leagues would rent out their stadiums to the Negro League teams when their own team would be on the road. For example, if the Brooklyn Dodgers were on the road they would rent out their stadium to the Kansas City Monarchs. Major League team owners also knew if they integrated the Majors the Negro League would lose their best players and the Negro League would be lost. Also, the Majors would lose significant revenue.
In 1946, he was selected as the best person to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball. For a long time, it was assumed that blacks were not allowed to play in the Major Leagues simply because they had not for so long. When Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the commissioner of baseball at the time, declared that there was no rule preventing integration of the Major Leagues, the idea of an African-American joining the league was realized for the first time by a lot of people. In 1943, Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the time, had an idea thought to be outrageous by many during that period. He considered signing some black players to make up for the wartime shortage of talent.
To the average person, in the average American community, Jackie Robinson was just what the sports pages said he was, no more, no less. He was the first Negro to play baseball in the major leagues. Everybody knew that, but to see the real Jackie Robinson, you must de-emphasize him as a ball player and emphasize him as a civil rights leader. That part drops out, that which people forget. From his early army days, until well after his baseball days, Robinson had fought to achieve equality among whites and blacks. "Jackie acted out the philosophy of nonviolence of Martin Luther King Jr., before the future civil rights leader had thought of applying it to the problem of segregation in America"(Weidhorn 93). Robinson was an avid member of the NAACP and helped recruit members because of his fame from baseball. Jackie had leadership qualities and the courage to fight for his beliefs. Unwilling to accept the racism he had run into all his life, he had a strong need to be accepted at his true worth as a first-class citizen. Robinson was someone who would work for a cause - that of blacks and of America - as well as for himself and his team.
Prior to free agency was implemented, individual players were controlled by teams within the MLB to a much greater extent than the current situation. Players’ contracts included reserve clauses, which essentially bound players to a team. Essentially, players could only move teams if they were traded or released. In 1969, Curt Flood who was an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals of the MLB at the time, became known as the first professional athlete to challenge the reverse clause. Flood believed the reverse clause went against antitrust laws and his 13th Amendment rights. Once he realized he was being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, Flood communicated to Bowie Kuhn, the baseball commissioner that he should be able to consider contracts offered by other teams prior to deciding. However, Kuhn rejected his petition, which triggered Flood to sue the MLB for violating antitrust laws.
Whether it was on the football field, on the basketball court, or out on the baseball field, Robinson encountered quite a bit of success wherever he went. (cite) Despite the talents of many African American baseball players, many were deemed inferior to their white counterparts. The sense of inferiority led many baseball players and owners of the teams in the Negro leagues to adjust to the status quo, however, Robinson was not one to simply seek to fulfill the status quo. Robinson was unwilling to conform with what mainstream society tried to force him to conform with, he constantly told his teammates that they should always be ready, someday one of them would be signed to break the color barrier and play in organized ball (cite to pg 48). Unlike many of his peers, he felt a different calling in the sport of baseball.
resulted in the doubling of the debt of the United States. He used the money for
Babe Ruth is still a very well-known person in history today, even almost one-hundred years later. He did not only change the way people viewed negro baseball leagues, but he also gained a large reputation for his ability to play baseball, obviously due to his amazing abilities. Ruth’s ability to play was almost impossibly good, in fact, he was even titled “athlete of the century” for his ability. With that ability and power that he had once he won, he would become a
forging Hall of Fame careers. The Cincinnati Reds, on the other hand, had its share of stars,