Another baseball player you should know
Those of you who are baseball fans would have to be in a vacuum not to notice the festivities associated with celebrating the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball.
I do not in the least bit wish to marginalize the importance of Jackie Robinson, both for baseball and for race relations as a whole.
However, as long as we are remembering influential African American baseball players – I think we should remember Curt Flood. Curt Flood did an awful lot for improving the lives of baseball players, both African American and white.
If you haven’t read about Curt Flood – and the role he had in the toppling of the “Reserve Clause” in baseball, you should.
The reserve clause was a clause in a baseball player’s contract which essentially limited that player to negotiate only with the player’s current team. For instance, if you played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the only team you were allowed to negotiate was the Los Angeles Dodgers. You could not negotiate with the Cubs or the Phillies. Essentially, before Curt Flood challenged the reserve clause, free agency did not exist. Baseball players operated in a very monopsonistic labor market.
Google Curt Flood and Reserve Clause, and you’ll have many to choose from. Here are just two:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curt_Flood
http://www.baseballreliquary.org/flood.htm
Curt Flood can’t compare with Jackie Robinson’s groundbreaking social impact, nor the conditions Jackie Robinson endured. However, Flood’s contribution is also a great one.
If Robinson is number one on the list, Flood should be number two.
–CT
May 9th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
The reverse clause is great but maybe a lot better achievement for his time. It just seems now in sports this clause isn’t all that important due to the high salaries of players today. When players today sign with a team for the most part they are set for a while and really dont need to negotiate with other teams. That is speaking for your super stars, not third string pitchers for the Orioles.Curt Flood might be number two on the list, but there is a large gap between number one and two.
May 10th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
This is a wonderful piece of history that unfortunately most people have never heard about. The MLB should use this history and try to expand their appeal to African American crowds. Possibly during Black History Month the MLB could bring exposure to Curt Flood and allow a wider variety of people to hear how the concept of the “reverse clause” arose and how it ultimately gave rise to the free agency. They could also do interviews with players on how this piece of history has affected their lives and their teams. By taking advantage of exposing a pivotal figure in the baseball world, the MLB has a chance to use history to build their economics.