Article on Curt Flood

Book brings Flood's contribution to game out of the shadows

By Marc Isenberg
Published May 14, 2007: Page 25

Although Jackie Robinson suffered many indignities when he broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947, his legacy is enshrined. Curt Flood’s historic contribution to baseball and society, however, remains in the shadows. His decision to challenge the power of the baseball establishment is still largely misunderstood. Thanks to "A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports," by Brad Snyder, we get a new look at Flood’s life and times. Snyder’s book illuminates Flood’s challenge of the reserve clause through the events that shaped Flood, including his childhood in desegregated Oakland, playing minor league baseball in the racist, segregated South, his participation in the civil rights movement, and his troubles with alcohol. <Continue reading article>

Postscript: MLB commissioner Bud Selig was honored in Boston at the Sports Lawyers Association conference, which I attended. In his speech Selig made an interesting apology. The reserve clause, Selig said, "should have been modified decades before someone like me came into the sport. Change was long overdue, and some balance to the relationship was necessary." He added, "So much of our success has been made possible because of our improved relationship with the players."

I expect The Onion or some other faux news organization to suggest something like, "Former players sue for well-paid slave reparations." Hmmm.