Curt flood wikipedia free#

Flood described over and over the insecurity players feel, but must hide, and so must be as much an actor as a baseball player. The only approved position of the ballplayer, Flood explained, was the “tailwagging thanks for the opportunities provided by the employer,” whether or not they felt that way.

Curt flood wikipedia free#

Flood wrote, “The hypocrisies of the baseball industry could not possibly have been sustained unless they were symptoms of a wider affliction.” Although he was suing for what would become free agency in a time when blacks were militantly fighting for civil rights, he argues that “organized baseball’s policies and practices affected all players equally.” 1 In 1969, at the age of 32, the Cardinals traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies, but he refused to go, violating the reserve clause, and he sued. The Cardinals paid him $5,000 for his 3rd season.Ĭurt Flood played for the St Louis Cardinals for 12 years. Flood agreed.Īfter his second year in the minors, Flood was traded to the Cardinals, partly because the Reds did not want three black men in the outfield. The GM told Flood that the Reds were in financial trouble, that Flood wasn’t ready for the majors, and that he should use “common sense” to again accept $4,000 and a promotion to a higher minor league. At the time, the Reds had “exclusive rights to baseball services for as long as they chose to retain them.” Salary negotiations thus were based on this fact. At the end of the season, he spoke to the general manager of the Reds and detailed his amazing season. By the end of 1956, Flood had a chance to play with a big league club in New York, and he was back to living “as a member of the human race.”įrom Flood’s very first season he believed in the power of merit-based pay for ballplayers. The people around him hated him and he felt that his teammates also rejected him because of his race. He experienced serious racism in Georgia and North Carolina while playing minor league ball. When he went to the minor league camp in Georgia, he realized that he was playing worse baseball than he had in the Alameda Winter League. When he arrived in Florida to begin training, he had his first experience of de jure segregation when he showed up at his hotel and was taken to a boardinghouse for the black players. In 1956 Flood was signed by the Cincinnati Reds for $4,000. He also had a photography business, Curt Flood & Associates. (the owner of the Cardinals) garnered much attention, and he eventually was even commissioned to paint Dr. One of his oil paintings of August Busch, Jr. 2įlood was partners in an engraving shop in Oakland, and was also an amateur artist: he sketched other baseball players in his spare time. He started to realize that he could play baseball for a living, and hoped to play for the Oakland Oaks. He later transferred to Oakland Tech, where he graduated. Along with Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson, he won the American Legion Championship under the direction of Powles.

He was a frequent visitor to Poplar Park.įlood attended McClymonds High School. He described himself as an extremely active child: he did scenery for school plays, painted house numbers, decorated show windows, babysat for his sister, and did as little schoolwork (and played as much baseball) as possible. Flood spoke very highly of Powles who “had no motives more exalted than good baseball and the benefits it offers.” Another of his mentors was Jim Chambers, an art teacher at Hoover.įlood attended Herbert Hoover Junior High. His first baseball position was catcher.įlood first played for George Powles, a local coach who mentored many future baseball stars at McClymonds High School and at other local teams. Then he found he could throw and was very coordinated. He discovered his athleticism at age 6 or 7 when he realized he was the fastest runner around. In his book, he describes himself as “having nothing,” and living in the ghetto. He was born in Texas but moved to West Oakland when he was two years old. Curt Flood (Janu– January 20, 1997) was a famous Major League Baseball player.