ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 21, 1997 TAG: 9701210114
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
Former major-league outfielder Curt Flood, known more for his stand against baseball's reserve clause than his six seasons with a batting average of .300 or better, died Monday of throat cancer. He was 59.
Flood started baseball's free-agency era by challenging the sport's reserve clause, which bound a player to a major-league organization entirely at the team's whim.
The outfielder fought the clause when the St. Louis Cardinals traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies before the 1970 season. His case went all the way to the U.S Supreme Court, where he lost in 1972. In 1975, an arbitrator granted pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally free agency, allowing them to sign with whichever team they chose.
Since then, some veteran players have been allowed to sign with any team when their contracts expire.
``Perhaps more than any other player, Curt Flood brought to the nation's attention the basic injustice of baseball's reserve system,'' said Donald Fehr, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. ``All players know that Curt's effort was critical to establishing the rights that they now enjoy, and they will always be in his debt.''
Flood batted .293 with 85 home runs and 636 runs batted in during 1,759 games with the Cincinnati Reds, Cardinals and Washington Senators from 1956-71. He led the National League with 211 hits in 1964 and batted .300 or better in six of eight seasons from 1961-68. He sat out the 1970 season while protesting the trade to the Phillies after he'd spent 12 years with St. Louis.
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