Baseball History: Curt Flood Trade Spurs Lawsuit

Throughout baseball history, the reserve clause was the bane of the existence of major league ballplayers. On this day in 1969, Curt Flood was traded to the Phillies, sparking a lawsuit that attempted to abolish the clause.

The Philadelphia Phillies have typically been one of the more downtrodden teams in baseball history. Aside from brief spurts of success, the Phillies were usually towards the basement of the division, hoping to find lightning in a bottle at some point. They were the last of the original 16 teams to win a title, doing so in 1980, 97 years after their first season.

However, the Phillies were active in their attempts to reverse their fortunes. One of those attempts occurred on this day in 1969, when they traded slugger Richie Allen as part of a deal with the Cardinals. In exchange, they received back outfielder Curt Flood, and would change baseball history.

Those changes did not occur on the diamond however. Flood refused to report to the Phillies, outraged that he learned of the trade over the radio and was not told by the franchise. He had become a part of the St. Louis community and put down his own roots in the area. And, the Phillies were a terrible franchise, coming off a 63-99 season. It was understandable why Flood did not want to go to Philadelphia.

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With the reserve clause, Flood did not have another choice. So, outraged by the trade, and with the backing of the MLBPA, Flood took Major League Baseball to court, claiming that the reserve clause was illegal. Unlike in other cases, Flood refused to be bought to end the lawsuit. Eventually, the case reached the Supreme Court, where the clause was upheld.

The decision to challenge the reserve clause essentially brought about the end of Flood’s career. He was a stellar all around player for the Cardinals, a three time All Star who won seven Gold Gloves and had finished fourth in the NL MVP vote in 1968. However, after sitting out the 1970 campaign as part of his protest against the trade, he only played another 13 games, his career over at 33 years old.

In the end, Flood had the last laugh. His lawsuit led to other players taking a hard look at the clause, and trying to figure out how they could remove its presence. Six years later, Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally won their lawsuit after playing the season without a contract, ushering in free agency. Baseball history was changed forever.

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On this day in 1969, Curt Flood was traded to the Phillies. Baseball would never be the same again.