Commentary By Rick RODRIGUEZ
A Well-Paid Slave "Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports" by Brad Snyder is the story of Curt Flood, a baseball player, who in the 1969 forfeited a $90,000 salary when he refused to be traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Flood, subsequently sued Major League Baseball and contrary to what I believed lost that lawsuit. Flood, however, is widely recognized as the player at the vanguard of the fight for free agency, and as a result of Flood's efforts, others prevailed in the abolishment of the reserve clause. The end result is that players were able to negotiate for better contracts and make a ton of money!
Having read excellent biographies of baseball stars Bob Gibson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax and Roberto Clemente. We can now add Curt Flood's name to that list with author Brad Snyder's effort entitled A Well-Paid Slave. As Flood stated, "A well-paid slave is nonetheless a slave."
Flood's contention was that he was not property nor was he owned and therefore could not be traded without his consent! Thus, he challenged the anti-trust exemption; inter/intra state commerce; and what was widely recognized as the baseball's reserve clause.
The book is very detailed and the reader comes to know the man Curt Flood; the history of baseball's reserve clause; idiosyncrasies of baseball in the 1960's, and many more tidbits of baseball history. Some of that history is not a feel good story and undoubtedly Flood played a big part in changing the game forever.
The question is did Flood et al change Baseball for the better? Certainly, from the player's viewpoint and from a societal vantage point an employee should have the right to control whether he/she works here or there. Imagining life any other way is not practical, fair, and the system works best this way. At the time, Bowie Kuhn, the commissioner of baseball said (Synder P. 179) "Without the reserve clause, Kuhn predicted, the rich teams would sign all the star players, the poor teams would go out of business, and the operation of a league would be impossible. Major League Baseball would devolve into an "exhibition business."
Was Kuhn right? While I sure enjoyed baseball of the 1960's and 1970's where you knew the players of your local team would be there year in and year out! Eventually, sky-rocketing salaries were inevitable and have come to fruition in all sport. Has this been for the better? And, how has this impacted society and aspects of it including youth, affordability of games, cheating, gambling, and all other sectors that are influenced by our national pastime?
I took this photo at Curt Flood Field on Outlook Avenue near Freeway 580 in Oakland, California. Somewhat strangely the field sign is so close to the chain link fence that this is the best photo I could take; a strange anomaly in the life of Curt Flood.
A Well-Paid Slave "Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports" by Brad Synder is 352 pages. It is very detailed and describes among other things the process of taking a case as far as the Supreme Court; landmark decisions (Baseball vs. Toolson), and concepts such as Stare Decisis. I read it December 2010.
Rick Rodriguez is a Real Estate Broker & Property Manager with 27+ years of experience in the real estate business. Rick, a Bay Area native and graduate of Saint Mary's College, services the San Francisco East Bay Area including the communities in the 680/580 freeway corridors, and Southern Alameda & Southern Contra Costa County. Contact Rick at rrodriguez@pacunion.com or (510) 326-4795.
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