But since the language within the clause essentially said the contract automatically renewed each year, there really was never an opportunity for that negotiation window to open.īecause of this reserve clause most Major League players prior to the mid-1970s stayed predominantly with one team during their careers.Īs you read yesterday, that all changed Dec. The reserve clause stated that players had to wait until a year after their contract expired before they could negotiate a contract with a different team. The vaguely-worded clause indicated that players were beholden to their teams each year, and that those rights rolled over each season, unless the team either traded said player, placed him on a reserve list from which another team could claim him, or the player retired. You learned in yesterday’s blog and 6 Feet, 60 Seconds video that for decades MLB had a “reserve clause” in player contracts which effectively allowed teams to keep their players for life. He continued: “I believe that any system which produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States and of the several States.”
#Curt flood made agency pro series
On Christmas Eve 1969, Curtis Charles Flood - then a Major League veteran who was a three-time All-Star, two-time World Series champion and seven-time Gold Glove Award winner as the best fielder at his position - forcefully told MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn he was rejecting the league’s long practice of owning a player’s complete contractual rights.Īs you can read plainly in the now 51-year-old letter above, Flood delivered an immediate haymaker: “… I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes.”
#Curt flood made agency pro free
It’s the day one ballplayer finally had enough of working under a system that made him feel less like a man, and more like a piece of property, shuttled about with no autonomy and independence of free thought. In the sports world, this day carries great historical weight, too. You are missed, brother.īecause of these specific events, this day has an immense significance in my life and in the lives of those closest to me. And a Happy Heavenly Birthday to Edward Aschoff. A Happy 92nd Birthday to my Grandmother Elaine. Watch: Atlantic writers will bring the "Inheritance" project to life on February 18 Flood's reasoning was logical: He was extraordinarily good at his job, and he deserved to have a say in his career.Merry Christmas Eve, everyone. It also became the foundation on which generational wealth for Black athletes was built.
His fight for worth and choice was hugely controversial at the time. Flood, however, was unwilling to accept financial success in exchange for his silence. All that was needed to tame a revolution was to give enslaved people just enough occasional privileges. He was creating an important narrative: If Black athletes were distracted by sports, then fighting for equal treatment, liberation from bondage, dignity, and respect would become less of a priority.
Douglass was keenly aware that if enslaved people were rewarded with "holidays" to play ball, wrestle, and run, they would be discouraged from rebelling against their inhumane conditions. Frederick Douglass wrote in his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, that enslavers often used sports to manipulate enslaved people. Flood wasted no time in registering his objection with MLB's commissioner, Bowie Kuhn, writing, "I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes." As uncomfortable as Flood's allusion to slavery may have made some people feel, the comparison was apt. Louis Cardinals, balked when he learned that he'd been traded to Philly. So it was no wonder that Curt Flood, a superstar center fielder for the St. The team's fan base also had a reputation for being hostile and racist. The year was 1969, and not only were the Phillies next-level terrible, but they had signed their first African American player only 12 years ago, in 1957. Link Copied One of the most consequential episodes in the history of American sports began with an All-Star Major Leaguer's simple wish to avoid the Philadelphia Phillies.
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