HBO Sports: The Curious Case of Curt Flood

AJ McKenzie

Why the MLB has free agency IG: aj_mckenzie416 Twitter: AJMckenzie94847

Transcript

00:00:19Slavery. To one owner, for the rest of his life.

00:00:27Enslaved shit you for one...

00:00:41You make a hundred thousand dollars a year.

00:00:44That's pretty nice back then.

00:00:54You wanted to own me.

00:01:03You wanted to know that.

00:01:09I am not Magists.

00:01:09I'm not going to be so proud of you.

00:01:12I was like, wow, we had everybody here.

00:01:13We're all aristian.

00:01:16We're all aristian.

00:01:25I'm not going to be a pastor.

00:01:26I'm not going to be a pastor.

00:01:34Kurt came up to

00:01:37You're one of the outstanding players in baseball today

00:01:41But a case like this could take years

00:01:46I wanted to make sure that Kurt understood that this was

00:01:51A. No simple matter

00:01:53B. It was a million and one shot in my opinion

00:02:00It was at the time an outlandish notion

00:02:04That a ball player should have the right to choose the team for which he played

00:02:12But at New York's Summit Hotel on November 24th, 1969

00:02:17Kurt Flood seemed hell-bent on doing something outlandish

00:02:22To earn that very right

00:02:23All the questions that were asked were to determine

00:02:28Whether Kurt was the Jackie Robinson on this issue

00:02:37I said to him

00:02:38If the million-to-one shot came

00:02:40I didn't expect any damages

00:02:47Kurt thought about that for a minute

00:02:58If we won

00:03:00It would benefit all the other players

00:03:08They lost, but it still benefited the other players

00:03:13Kurt left lunch that day

00:03:14His mind had been made up

00:03:16He was going to sue the game of baseball

00:03:20Consequences be damned

00:03:22Boy, there's something that's gonna happen to this man here

00:03:26He ain't never gonna play no more

00:03:28The establishment in baseball

00:03:31Boy, they're just as through with me as they can possibly be

00:03:33And I know it

00:03:37You'll never really be able to tell why

00:03:42I still don't see where it really came from

00:03:45Because if you asked me before

00:03:48Would Kurt Flood be the kind of guy to sue baseball?

00:03:51I'd say no

00:03:54Until that point, I didn't know that Kurt really had that type of thing in him

00:04:00If that fateful decision by Curtis Charles Flood remains a mystery to some

00:04:05Its origins, perhaps, could be traced as far back as 1915

00:04:09And a small town in Louisiana

00:04:12Where a young woman decided one day

00:04:14She'd simply had enough of the way things were

00:04:17She was out shopping in an expensive store

00:04:22And this Caucasian woman came up to her and said

00:04:26Can you tell me where I can find me a nigger bitch to clean my house?

00:04:31Kurt's mom said

00:04:33I don't know any nigger bitches to clean your house

00:04:37And the woman slapped her

00:04:40She slapped her back

00:04:43So naturally the fight began

00:04:46And mother had to leave there because they were gonna lynch her

00:04:54Laura Ricks fled the segregated South

00:04:58Eventually landing in relatively tolerant Oakland, California

00:05:03There, she settled down with her second husband, Herman Flood

00:05:06And raised six children

00:05:08Kurt was the baby

00:05:10She was busy with all of them

00:05:12But Kurt was special

00:05:14You could kind of tell she had a fondness for him

00:05:19Kurt learned as a grown man

00:05:21That he was poor

00:05:22But as a kid

00:05:24He didn't know he was poor

00:05:26His mother had sheltered them in this ghetto in Oakland

00:05:29To make them not feel deprived or put upon

00:05:35Reminder, when everybody lives the same as you do

00:05:39You're not gonna know you're poor or rich

00:05:43Mother was always seeing that we had music lessons

00:05:46And Herman Sr. painted

00:05:49He also played music

00:05:51Kurt's dad had worked with his dad

00:05:55In a traveling music group

00:05:57So the family was very, very musical

00:06:00But young Kurt was drawn to more traditional boyhood pursuits

00:06:05A lot of times we would be doing family things

00:06:09But we had to drop Kurt off

00:06:12With the little league team

00:06:15He wanted to play baseball

00:06:17He was usually playing ball with his older brother Carl

00:06:20Who was a phenomenal athlete

00:06:21And who Kurt idolized as a kid

00:06:26Carl was a different cut

00:06:28Carl was more cunning

00:06:31More cutting

00:06:32And he would fight

00:06:35Carl got in trouble with the law

00:06:38He got sent down to one of those juvenile places

00:06:42And of course that really broke Kurt's heart

00:06:49By the time he was 18

00:06:50Carl Flood had been arrested nearly a dozen times

00:06:55Little brother Kurt, meanwhile

00:06:57Was making a very different impression on folks in West Oakland

00:07:01What stuck out about Kurt was his being curious about things

00:07:07He was a bright candle

00:07:09And he made sure you knew he was there

00:07:15At 14 or 15

00:07:16I would have been surprised if he didn't get to the big leagues

00:07:19He had that much ability

00:07:22He'd make great catches that looked normal

00:07:25As soon as he heard a crack in the bat

00:07:26He knew where the ball was going to go

00:07:28Turned his back and he ran

00:07:30And turned around and made it look easy

00:07:33Easy

00:07:33Signed by the Cincinnati Reds

00:07:36Just 18

00:07:38He was on his way to the majors

00:07:40First stop, spring training in Tampa, Florida

00:07:44It was his first time he'd been on a plane

00:07:46And he's so excited

00:07:48He had this brochure they had sent

00:07:50To all their prospects

00:07:52Of this beautiful hotel in Tampa

00:07:54Called the Floridian

00:07:55Kurt hails the cab and says

00:07:57Take me to the Floridian

00:08:00He was thinking

00:08:00I'm going to meet the other guys

00:08:02And I could have lunch

00:08:03And I'm going to be in a big hotel

00:08:05So he gets to the hotel

00:08:07And he presents himself

00:08:09The guy stops him

00:08:10And he says

00:08:11You with the minor league team

00:08:13And Kurt said

00:08:13Yeah

00:08:15Porter took his stuff

00:08:16Took him out the back door of the hotel

00:08:19Flagged down a colored taxi

00:08:22And they send him to the black section of town

00:08:25Where all of the Reds' black talent

00:08:27Is staying

00:08:30He realized that he was in a completely different world

00:08:41From the time someone made me stay

00:08:43In the colored section

00:08:45When the white kids stayed on the beach

00:08:49I felt like a nigger

00:08:54In one of the minor league towns

00:08:56Kurt could not dress

00:08:57With his teammates

00:08:59He had to dress

00:09:01In this still corrugated lean tube

00:09:05On the outside of the clubhouse

00:09:09And one day

00:09:10When he went to have his uniform clean

00:09:12Between games of a doubleheader

00:09:14Flood discovered just how cruel

00:09:16Jim Crow could be

00:09:17He can see that

00:09:19The guys are taking their uniforms off

00:09:21And throwing them

00:09:21Into this pile on the floor

00:09:24So he takes his uniform off

00:09:25And then all of a sudden

00:09:27He hears this yell

00:09:28The clubhouse guy is just cursing

00:09:31And he runs

00:09:32And he gets a long stick

00:09:34With a nail in it

00:09:36And he picks Kurt's uniform

00:09:38Out of the pile of uniforms

00:09:40And they take it to the black cleaners

00:09:42He sat there and started crying

00:09:45And he was naked

00:09:46And it was hot

00:09:47And the guys inside

00:09:49Were just chit chatting

00:09:51And having a great old time

00:09:53I think it is something

00:09:55That he could never forget

00:09:58When you lose your dignity

00:10:00You lose an awful lot

00:10:03How do you now regain that?

00:10:08It wasn't something

00:10:09That you talked about

00:10:10By being a great player

00:10:11If you were going to make it

00:10:12To the major league

00:10:12You just had to

00:10:14You know, buck up

00:10:16But even after Flood

00:10:17Was traded to St. Louis

00:10:19In 1958

00:10:20And made the major league club

00:10:22He quickly learned

00:10:23Courtesy of his manager

00:10:25Solly Hemas

00:10:25That life in the big leagues

00:10:27Brought its own brand

00:10:29Of racial injustice

00:10:30You're not only being denied

00:10:32The opportunity to play

00:10:34But you're told

00:10:35That you don't have

00:10:36The ability to play

00:10:39Solly told him

00:10:40That he should probably

00:10:41Quit baseball

00:10:42And try something else

00:10:43He told me the same thing

00:10:46It didn't affect him

00:10:47Nearly as much

00:10:48As it did me

00:10:49At least

00:10:50He wasn't as vocal

00:10:51As I was

00:10:53He was very, very quiet

00:10:55You could see the mind working

00:10:57You could almost see

00:10:58The stomach churning

00:10:59And hear it churning

00:11:00And if Flood's rage

00:11:02Was silent

00:11:03Its roots could be found

00:11:05In the path blazed

00:11:06By an icon

00:11:06From a not so distant age

00:11:08Jackie Robinson

00:11:10Was his superman

00:11:11His god

00:11:12He was his hero

00:11:14His absolute hero

00:11:16He emulated him

00:11:18By wearing Jackie's number

00:11:20He would be influenced

00:11:22By anything

00:11:23That Jackie was doing

00:11:26So in 1962

00:11:27When Robinson invited

00:11:29A group of black athletes

00:11:30To a rally in Mississippi

00:11:31And asked Flood to come along

00:11:33Flood rushed to stand

00:11:35By his idol's side

00:11:36I want you to

00:11:38Pay tribute

00:11:39To three wonderful fellows

00:11:41For Jackie to invite him

00:11:44And do anything with him

00:11:45That fell right into things

00:11:46Because now

00:11:48Kurt is in that

00:11:50Same arena

00:11:51My baseball career

00:11:53Is just starting

00:11:54Many of you

00:11:55I'm sure

00:11:55Have never heard about me

00:11:56But this career

00:11:58With the NAACP

00:12:00Is just starting

00:12:01As well

00:12:02If one

00:12:03If you don't hear

00:12:05About me in one

00:12:05I'm certain

00:12:06You will hear about me

00:12:07In the other

00:12:07Because I'm really sincere

00:12:09About our civil rights

00:12:12I was in Mississippi

00:12:14And just happened

00:12:14To bump into Kurt

00:12:17I didn't think

00:12:17He should be down there

00:12:18Because he could get hurt

00:12:20I don't think he knew

00:12:22The enormity

00:12:23Of what he was doing

00:12:25Their host

00:12:25Is Medgar Evers

00:12:26A year later

00:12:28Medgar Evers

00:12:29Is shot in the back

00:12:30And killed

00:12:32I talked to several people here

00:12:34And they were saying

00:12:35How grateful they were

00:12:36To me

00:12:37For coming down here

00:12:38To do this for you

00:12:40Well that's not the truth

00:12:41I came down here

00:12:44Because of myself

00:12:44And my children

00:12:45Because they are

00:12:46Certainly affected by it

00:12:47Just as yours are

00:12:49If there's anything

00:12:50That I can ever do

00:12:52As far as this fight

00:12:52For freedom is concerned

00:12:53Certainly count on me

00:12:55Thank you very much

00:12:56Kurt Flood had found

00:12:57His political voice

00:12:58While back in St. Louis

00:13:00With a new manager

00:13:01He was finding

00:13:02His professional footing too

00:13:04Starting in center field

00:13:06For the 1964

00:13:07World Champion Cardinals

00:13:10Away from the field

00:13:12With a young wife

00:13:13Four small kids

00:13:14And another on the way

00:13:15Flood was also

00:13:16The picture of

00:13:17Personal success

00:13:19But when he sought

00:13:20To move his family

00:13:21Out to the Bay Area suburbs

00:13:22Just weeks after

00:13:23The 64 World Series

00:13:25The leaser

00:13:26Upon learning his new

00:13:27Tenants were black

00:13:28Threatened to hold

00:13:29The house hostage

00:13:30At gunpoint

00:13:31And the fight for freedom

00:13:32Which Flood had spoken of

00:13:34In Mississippi

00:13:34Was suddenly at his doorstep

00:13:38Of all places

00:13:39Where you would think

00:13:40It would be most welcome

00:13:42World Series hero

00:13:43Instilled your blackness

00:13:45Was something that

00:13:46You had to deal with

00:13:48They filed for

00:13:49A preliminary injunction

00:13:50A court order

00:13:51Armed police protection

00:13:54They searched the entire

00:13:55House for bombs

00:13:56And moved Kurt and his

00:13:58Family into that home

00:13:59Television cameras

00:14:00Rolling the entire time

00:14:02There's a great deal

00:14:03Of pride involved here

00:14:04How can they do this

00:14:05Not because I'm

00:14:06A professional athlete

00:14:07Or because I'm

00:14:08A negro even

00:14:09But I am a human being

00:14:10Regardless of what I am

00:14:12I think that

00:14:12If I can afford

00:14:13This place

00:14:14I think that I

00:14:15Certainly ought to have it

00:14:18The easiest thing

00:14:20For Kurt to do

00:14:21In that Alamo experience

00:14:23Was to rent another house

00:14:24But he took on

00:14:27This racist with a shotgun

00:14:29Through the court system

00:14:30And he was vindicated

00:14:32By the court system

00:14:34What good do you think

00:14:35Could come out of this

00:14:36Well I think that

00:14:37The notoriety that

00:14:40Undoubtedly going to be

00:14:41Involved here

00:14:42Will make people aware

00:14:43If nothing else

00:14:44That prejudice

00:14:46Is not only confined

00:14:49To the southern part

00:14:49Of our United States

00:14:50And if they

00:14:51If they move their mustache

00:14:53And look under their nose

00:14:54They find it right here

00:14:55At home too

00:15:01Alamo was a horrific

00:15:03Experience for us

00:15:04As children

00:15:06To be confronted

00:15:08With racism

00:15:09At three years old

00:15:10You know it's scary

00:15:12And the trauma

00:15:13Deepened for the flood kids

00:15:15When their parents

00:15:16Split just months

00:15:17After moving in

00:15:18And their father

00:15:20Moved away for good

00:15:22The fact that

00:15:23They were separated

00:15:25Wasn't different

00:15:25And they were separated

00:15:27While he was working

00:15:30Dad was always gone

00:15:33And I missed him

00:15:35I missed him

00:15:36Most all of my life

00:15:45Kurt loved the game

00:15:46I think the ballpark

00:15:48Is where he really thrived

00:15:52Kurt Flood was a hell of a ball player

00:16:01He was very well known

00:16:04For climbing the walls

00:16:05And catching balls

00:16:08Watching him catching the ball

00:16:09Was like watching

00:16:10Pretty girls go by

00:16:11The next one was better

00:16:12Than the last one

00:16:18He made a play at Wrigley Field

00:16:20Once in the vines

00:16:22That I'll never forget

00:16:23And everybody was just

00:16:24Dumbfounded

00:16:25That a man could do that

00:16:27As gracefully as Kurt did

00:16:29In a national league

00:16:31Stocked with some of the best

00:16:32Outfielders in baseball history

00:16:33Flood

00:16:34All five foot nine of them

00:16:36Stood as tall as any

00:16:39A perennial gold glove recipient

00:16:41Flood once went an entire season

00:16:44Without making a single error

00:16:45What?

00:16:47No, there's no way

00:16:48Kurt Flood

00:16:49Was an extraordinary

00:16:51Overachiever

00:16:52He must have had

00:16:54Extraordinary inner drive

00:16:56But it was all personal

00:16:58And it was all ambition

00:17:00Here's Kurt Flood

00:17:02The premier defensive

00:17:04Center fielder

00:17:04In the national league

00:17:06He was a pesky little guy

00:17:08You know what I mean?

00:17:10He was a guy that

00:17:12I call them gnats

00:17:14That put their bat on the ball

00:17:16All the time

00:17:18That's what Kurt was

00:17:21Kurt Flood

00:17:22The most consistent hitter

00:17:23For the Cardinals all year

00:17:28He was a guy that

00:17:29You could depend on

00:17:31Day in and day out

00:17:33And you were always

00:17:35Going to get

00:17:35A top flight job

00:17:37Just doing things

00:17:39To help the ball club

00:17:44On the field

00:17:45There was no more

00:17:46Reliable cog

00:17:47In the Cardinal machine

00:17:49But off of it

00:17:50There was no individual

00:17:51More distinct

00:17:55Kurt was a renaissance man

00:17:57Before the term

00:17:57Renaissance man

00:18:00Was coined

00:18:03Kurt to play a piano

00:18:05He went to spring training

00:18:07He came with a ukulele

00:18:08And pretty much taught himself

00:18:11If we'd have had a couple

00:18:12Hula girls out there

00:18:13He could have played

00:18:13A song or two for them

00:18:15If there was any game

00:18:17That took coordination

00:18:18He would do it

00:18:20And then he'd put it down

00:18:21Says, you got anything else

00:18:22You want me to do?

00:18:24He was gifted

00:18:25That's the word

00:18:26Gifted

00:18:28The first thing I learned

00:18:29As a teenager

00:18:31That made me think

00:18:32Of him being very different

00:18:33Was that he was an artist

00:18:34I had never heard of

00:18:36A athlete being an artist before

00:18:41He always had a sketch pad

00:18:43In the clubhouse

00:18:44And if somebody had their kids

00:18:45In there

00:18:45He'd be sketching their kids

00:18:46Or something

00:18:47And then give them the sketch

00:18:47Which was a nice thing

00:18:51In 1967

00:18:52Flood traded his pencil

00:18:54For a paintbrush

00:18:55And opened

00:18:56Kurt Flood Associates

00:18:57A studio that did

00:18:59Photography work

00:18:59And featured Flood's paintings

00:19:04Soon his commissioned work

00:19:06Began popping up

00:19:07All over St. Louis

00:19:08While a portrait he did

00:19:09Of Martin Luther King

00:19:10Brought him national acclaim

00:19:14Flood is an interesting fella

00:19:16He's quite a portrait painter

00:19:18So prolific was Flood

00:19:20As a portrait artist

00:19:21Teammates took to

00:19:22Calling him Rembrandt

00:19:23He had volunteered

00:19:25Joe, anytime you want me

00:19:26To do something

00:19:27He asked me

00:19:29Do you have a picture

00:19:30Of your kids?

00:19:31I said, well I got a picture

00:19:32Of me and my two girls

00:19:34He said, would you let me use it?

00:19:37And then he painted that

00:19:41He painted a picture

00:19:43Of my son and daughter

00:19:45It was beautiful

00:19:47It was like

00:19:48How could he do that?

00:19:50Because all he had

00:19:51Was a photo, right?

00:19:54Painted Gussie's picture

00:19:55And presented it to him

00:19:57Down in spring training

00:19:58And Gussie got a little bit

00:20:00Choked up at the time

00:20:01There was no better way

00:20:03For Kirk to ingratiate himself

00:20:05With the owner of the cardinal

00:20:07Bushes

00:20:07Really made them look

00:20:09A little bit better

00:20:10Than

00:20:11They actually look

00:20:13He looked

00:20:14He gave a little bit

00:20:15Of leeway

00:20:17To the wrinkles

00:20:17Of the other guy

00:20:21Loved this portrait

00:20:22In this just one reason

00:20:24In addition to

00:20:25His amazing catches

00:20:26Why he really was

00:20:27Gussie Bush's favorite

00:20:35Flood was a St. Louis treasure

00:20:37And in the late 60's

00:20:38His profile only heightened

00:20:40When he began dating

00:20:42A movie star

00:20:42A young beauty

00:20:44Named Judy Pace

00:20:45When we would go

00:20:46Into places

00:20:47Especially within

00:20:48The African American community

00:20:50There would be

00:20:51A little chaos

00:20:52And he loved it

00:20:55If the start

00:20:56Of his baseball career

00:20:57Had been stained

00:20:58By injustice

00:20:59Flood found his prime

00:21:01Painted by the perks

00:21:02Of success

00:21:03Kurt had a magnificent

00:21:06Penthouse

00:21:07He always had

00:21:09A Cadillac

00:21:10And a closet

00:21:12Full of clothes

00:21:14And jewelry

00:21:15And artwork

00:21:16In the apartment

00:21:20He did live well

00:21:22He enjoyed life

00:21:23As much as he could

00:21:25Footloose and

00:21:26Fancy free

00:21:27Kurt seemed to me

00:21:29A free spirit

00:21:30I was not the only person

00:21:37That Kurt was dating

00:21:38He had different girlfriends

00:21:41He lived the life

00:21:42Of a ball player

00:21:43Who's young

00:21:44Single

00:21:44And the women adore

00:21:47If that weren't enough

00:21:48Flood also happened

00:21:50To play for one

00:21:51Of the best teams

00:21:51In baseball

00:21:52After winning

00:21:53Their second world series

00:21:54In four years

00:21:55In 1967

00:21:56The Cardinals

00:21:58Behind the Cy Young

00:21:59Award winning season

00:21:59Of Flood's roommate

00:22:00Bob Gibson

00:22:01Reached the fall classic

00:22:03Again in 1968

00:22:04One of the greatest

00:22:07Pitching seasons

00:22:08In MLB history

00:22:09And they had to

00:22:10Change the rules

00:22:11Because of that

00:22:11They had to

00:22:12They graze the mound

00:22:15Raised or lowered the mound

00:22:16And in the deciding

00:22:18Game 7

00:22:19Against the Detroit Tigers

00:22:20Gabe's third victory

00:22:23Of the series

00:22:24With two on

00:22:25And two out

00:22:26In the seventh inning

00:22:26The score was tied

00:22:27At zero

00:22:28When Detroit's

00:22:29Jim Northrup

00:22:30Stepped to the plate

00:22:32Northrup

00:22:32Hits the ball

00:22:33To all fields

00:22:39Northrup hit a

00:22:40Line drive

00:22:41To center field

00:22:43Well hit line drive

00:22:45Fly ball

00:22:46Flood

00:22:47He almost thought

00:22:48He misjudged it

00:22:49Over his head

00:22:50Two runs are going to score

00:22:54The same thing

00:22:55Almost happened earlier

00:22:56In the game

00:22:57To Jim Northrup

00:22:58And now it has happened

00:22:59To one of the

00:23:00Greatest defensive

00:23:01Centerfielders

00:23:01In baseball

00:23:02Hurt Flood

00:23:11First of all

00:23:12I didn't see the ball

00:23:13The background here

00:23:15Is not very good

00:23:16I didn't think the ball

00:23:17Was hit as well

00:23:17As it was

00:23:18And then when I realized

00:23:20It I tried to

00:23:21Reverse my field

00:23:22And I slipped

00:23:23He got stuck in the mud

00:23:25The rain the night before

00:23:27Was torrential

00:23:29And center field

00:23:30Was muddy

00:23:32He took that one step in

00:23:34And he couldn't recover

00:23:38It was just circumstances

00:23:39You know

00:23:42Shit happens

00:23:43Do you think you could have

00:23:44Made the play on the ball

00:23:45If you picked it up

00:23:46Right off his bat

00:23:46Well I don't know

00:23:47We were just talking about that

00:23:49And I really don't think so

00:23:52You're coming back next year

00:23:54Of course we are

00:23:55We'll see you the same time

00:23:56Right here next year

00:23:58They were not back next year

00:24:02But Flood's public nonchalance

00:24:05Belied a private agony

00:24:09He was devastated

00:24:12Northrup

00:24:15It was like it was on a loop

00:24:19He would just keep replaying

00:24:21And replaying

00:24:23And replaying

00:24:26And he just wanted to stop

00:24:30He felt like he let everybody down

00:24:35Our society has a way of blaming people

00:24:39And Kurt was the guy who

00:24:41Was blamed for this

00:24:42And I've always thought it was ludicrous

00:24:45And unfair

00:24:48That error

00:24:50Started the whole dismantling

00:24:53Of the life that he had

00:24:59The life he had worked so hard for

00:25:07I would wake up

00:25:10At 3 o'clock in the morning

00:25:124 o'clock in the morning

00:25:13Smelling smoke

00:25:14And he was sitting on the side of the bed

00:25:16Smoking

00:25:18One cigarette after another

00:25:21He'd never say what was bothering him

00:25:23But he'd sit there and smoke cigarettes all night

00:25:27Is that a person with something on their mind?

00:25:29Absolutely

00:25:30What is it?

00:25:31I don't know

00:25:33As great as he was on the ball field

00:25:35He was a horrific businessman

00:25:38His finances were a mess

00:25:41He was a guy who was more preoccupied with getting dressed to go out

00:25:45Than getting his bills paid

00:25:47Or doing the minutiae of being alive in the United States

00:25:51That was not his forte

00:25:55Flood was making more than just about anyone in St. Louis

00:25:59But he was spending more too

00:26:03And after the 68 season

00:26:04He had stopped paying alimony and child support

00:26:08And when his ex-wife filed for more money at the start of 1969

00:26:12Flood found himself in no position to pay

00:26:16So he looked to the Cardinal family for relief

00:26:19Heard wants $100,000

00:26:21And he says, I'm not coming to spring training

00:26:24Until I get that $100,000 contract

00:26:29To hold out on Gussie Bush

00:26:31After dropping the fly ball

00:26:33Really annoyed Gussie Bush

00:26:37I think it more than annoyed Gussie Bush

00:26:39Bush gave his center fielder a raise

00:26:42But just a few weeks later

00:26:44Another dose of Flood family drama

00:26:46Deepened the rift between the owner and his favorite player

00:26:51Kurt's brother was there at that time

00:26:53Because Kurt had brought him from Los Angeles

00:26:56After he was let out of jail

00:26:58To try to help straighten him out

00:27:01He gave him a job in the photography studio

00:27:04And Carl was doing a pretty good job, he thought

00:27:08Carl is just sort of a tornado plowing through that mix

00:27:13He's got a heroin addiction

00:27:14He's just a bad guy

00:27:17Kurt gets a call from Mr. Bush

00:27:20And he hears this voice just yelling at him

00:27:23You brought Carl here

00:27:26He's embarrassed the whole team

00:27:28He's on the news

00:27:32He held up a jewelry store in St. Louis

00:27:35And virtually the entire incident was captured on tape

00:27:43They commandeered an empty police car

00:27:45To try to make their getaway

00:27:46I think they got a total of two blocks away

00:27:49Before they were apprehended

00:27:51It was not well conceived

00:27:53It was not well carried out

00:27:55And it ended in disaster

00:27:58Kurt was heartbroken

00:28:00He couldn't have been any more upset than he was

00:28:03But he was upset that Mr. Bush was blaming him

00:28:08For his brother robbing the jewelry store

00:28:14That was the nail

00:28:20I rode to the ballpark with him every day

00:28:24And one day his parking place wasn't there

00:28:29The bat order

00:28:31Usually when you order bats

00:28:34Lickety split

00:28:35Them bats are there

00:28:36When all of a sudden

00:28:38Kurt didn't have his bats

00:28:42His life is starting to fray

00:28:45He said

00:28:46They're going to get rid of me

00:28:47I said, no

00:28:48No, they can't get rid of you

00:28:51He would say that just about every other night

00:28:54He said, they're going to get rid of me

00:28:57The articles in the newspapers

00:28:58Were very, very powerful

00:29:00Even Harry Carey was saying

00:29:02Oh, wouldn't it be great

00:29:04To see Dick Allen in this lineup

00:29:06What?

00:29:07Where'd that come from?

00:29:08They were only rumors

00:29:10But Flood's response to them

00:29:12Was absolute

00:29:13He says, I'm not going

00:29:15I don't care where it is

00:29:18I'm not going

00:29:22Yep

00:29:29Kurt gets a phone call

00:29:31From someone in the Cardinal's front office

00:29:33Who he describes as a middle echelon coffee drinker

00:29:36Kurt, you've been traded to the Phillies

00:29:38Ewan McCarver

00:29:39I'm very sorry

00:29:41And hangs up

00:29:46The morning after

00:29:47Kurt was in my office

00:29:49I had never seen him

00:29:51So upset

00:29:52About anything

00:29:53At any time

00:29:55After 12 years

00:29:56Seven gold gloves

00:29:58And two World Series titles

00:30:02Flood had been told

00:30:03His services were no longer needed

00:30:06He thought it was a complete slap in the face

00:30:08That general manager

00:30:10Being divine

00:30:10Didn't call him up

00:30:12And say, look, we're sorry

00:30:13We had to do this

00:30:17Now, all of the stuff

00:30:18That he was doing in St. Louis

00:30:20Was for nothing

00:30:23What hit him immediately was

00:30:26These people are telling me

00:30:28I have to go someplace

00:30:30I don't want to go

00:30:32And I had nothing to do with it

00:30:35It was very obvious to him

00:30:36How it was going to change his life

00:30:38He was clearly in my office

00:30:40Because he was looking for

00:30:42What he could do about it

00:30:43But his options were scant

00:30:45Flood, like every other big leaguer

00:30:48Had signed the uniformed players contract

00:30:50Which contained paragraph 10A

00:30:53Better known as the reserve clause

00:30:55The reserve clause bound ballplayers

00:30:58To their respective teams

00:30:59In effect

00:31:00They were owned by them

00:31:02In perpetuity

00:31:05You were their property

00:31:08They could do whatever they want with you

00:31:12I mean, you were traded

00:31:13Just like cattle or pigs or hogs or anything

00:31:18Or sold for cash

00:31:19Literally sold for cash

00:31:22The one difference between outright slavery

00:31:25And what you found

00:31:26Is that a ballplayer could quit

00:31:29Of course, if he did

00:31:30He could not play professional baseball anywhere

00:31:35Anywhere

00:31:36There was perhaps no man on earth

00:31:38More determined to change the reserve system

00:31:41Than Marvin Miller

00:31:43After 15 years with the United Steelworkers Union

00:31:46Miller had taken charge

00:31:47Of the Baseball Players Association in 1966

00:31:51Eager to set free the game's proletariat

00:31:53There was just one problem

00:31:56Baseball's intractable ruling class

00:32:03The owners were almost futile

00:32:06In terms of the way they thought of their employees

00:32:10This was a group of employers

00:32:13Who had operated for well over a century

00:32:16And never had to deal with a union

00:32:20And if the owners were all-powerful lords

00:32:23Many of the players, it turned out

00:32:25Were all too willing indentured servants

00:32:29The owners made us think that we were privileged

00:32:32I mean, where could we have gotten a job

00:32:35Making $60,000 a year in the late 60s

00:32:38It was unheard of

00:32:41Marvin Miller's whole task

00:32:43Was to get the players to stop accepting paternalism

00:32:46As some kind of natural order of things

00:32:49There was at least one player, though

00:32:51Who needed no lecture on the indignity of the reserve system

00:32:55Kurt hated that

00:32:57I'm nobody's property

00:33:00Well, you belong to them

00:33:03Not many players in those early years

00:33:05Wanted to talk about the legalities of the reserve clause

00:33:10Well, he would ask the basic question

00:33:12What do you think would happen if it was tested?

00:33:16It was only later that I realized

00:33:18Kurt had been involved in civil rights demonstrations

00:33:22And his questioning the legal basis for a particular thing

00:33:26Was not unusual for him

00:33:30But when Miller heard from Flood

00:33:32Soon after his trade to the Phillies in the fall of 1969

00:33:35He was hardly expecting the seed of a revolution

00:33:39When he telephoned

00:33:40He said, you know, I've been traded

00:33:42I said, yes, I know

00:33:44And he said, I've been to see my personal lawyer here in St. Louis

00:33:51I perked up, you know, what does that mean?

00:33:53We're going to pursue the possibility of an antitrust lawsuit

00:33:57And we'd like to come to New York and talk to you

00:34:01You will never have another job in baseball again

00:34:04Ever

00:34:05You understand that, don't you, Kurt?

00:34:08It almost didn't matter what I said

00:34:10I realized that this is really a man of principle here

00:34:15After Marvin spent most of the time

00:34:18Trying to convince him what a mistake he was making personally

00:34:22Concluded it by saying

00:34:24You're the answer to a maiden's prayer

00:34:25You're the guy I've been looking for

00:34:30Miller immediately formulated a plan of attack

00:34:33Which began with sending Flood to the union's annual meeting in Puerto Rico

00:34:37There, he informed the player representatives of his plan to sue baseball

00:34:42The overwhelming sentiment in the room was skepticism

00:34:47I think players were much more suspicious than even we were about Kurt's motives

00:34:53I asked him, why are you doing this?

00:34:57You're right in your prime years

00:34:59This cannot be good

00:35:01Tom Haller was very forceful with his questions about race

00:35:06Is this being done for your rep?

00:35:08Kurt said, no

00:35:09Is this being done to help me and to help you?

00:35:13He was so good at describing what he thought was wrong

00:35:16And why it's important that we do something about it

00:35:20Having assured the player reps he'd see his lawsuit through to the end

00:35:24Flood won the union's financial backing

00:35:27But he left Puerto Rico as he had come

00:35:29An army of one

00:35:32Sadly, what came out of that meeting

00:35:34Was even though the expenses were going to be paid by the association

00:35:39I think Kurt realized that he was isolated

00:35:43And I think he felt that isolation

00:35:47I said, you're crazy

00:35:48You'll never win that

00:35:51Was I behind Kurt?

00:35:52Absolutely

00:35:53But I was about ten steps back

00:35:55Just in case there was some fallout

00:36:07He regarded it not so much as an antitrust case

00:36:10Which is what it was, technically

00:36:12But he regarded it as a civil rights case

00:36:15And that's what it really was

00:36:17When you hear what I've got to say

00:36:21It's been a master and slave relationship

00:36:25As long as you do what I say do

00:36:28You're fine

00:36:29He was not particularly identified

00:36:32With being an activist athlete

00:36:35In the same way that Jim Brown

00:36:36Or Bill Russell

00:36:37Or Muhammad Ali were

00:36:39There was no indication

00:36:41That he would do something like this

00:36:43But fueled by his own personal history

00:36:46Not to mention the turbulent times

00:36:48Kurt Flood was now determined to be heard

00:36:51And heard loud and clear

00:36:54I'm talking about freedom

00:36:57I'm talking about freedom, yeah

00:37:00Do you think your race has something to do

00:37:02With your taking this strong a stand?

00:37:05Well, yes I do

00:37:07Me as a black man

00:37:08I'm probably a lot more sensitive

00:37:10To the rights of other people

00:37:12Because I have been denied these rights

00:37:15I'm not sure how political Flood wanted it to be

00:37:20But the moment and the language that he used

00:37:23Made it an intensely political struggle

00:37:25Freedom to do as I choose to do

00:37:28Come on

00:37:29It's been written, Kurt

00:37:30That you're a man who makes $90,000 a year

00:37:32Which isn't exactly slave wages

00:37:34What you were taught to that

00:37:36Well, Howard

00:37:39A well-paid slave is nonetheless a slave

00:37:43That slave analogy pissed off a lot of people

00:37:47Kurt was making seven times

00:37:50What the average American was making

00:37:52The thought that someone like that

00:37:55Could be a victim of injustice

00:37:57Didn't resonate with people

00:38:00The Civil Rights Act has been passed

00:38:02The Voting Rights Act has been passed

00:38:04By 1968

00:38:06There's an anti-poverty program

00:38:08So there's a kind of backlash

00:38:10That's coming from whites

00:38:12Now you've got black people coming out

00:38:14They're making irrational statements

00:38:16That I'm making $90,000 a year

00:38:17And I'm a slave

00:38:19Most of the sports writers

00:38:21Were in the pockets of the ball clubs

00:38:23This was not a liberal baseball press

00:38:30The vast majority of them

00:38:31Thought that he was trying to destroy

00:38:33The national pastime

00:38:37Somebody's used to getting admiration

00:38:39And fan mail

00:38:40That now turned into this

00:38:42Pile of vicious, angry, mocking hate

00:38:48Flood even began catching flack

00:38:50From some of the very men

00:38:52Whose rights he was supposedly fighting for

00:38:54You have outspoken critics

00:38:56Like Killebrew and Yastrzemski

00:38:58But then you have the silence

00:39:00From black players like Willie Mays

00:39:04Hank Aaron

00:39:05Frank Robinson

00:39:07I think they were making money

00:39:10And if they said something

00:39:12Against the establishment

00:39:14It might have hurt their position

00:39:16You seem to think that there are things

00:39:19More important than money, obviously

00:39:21I pride myself for several things

00:39:24Of which one is integrity

00:39:26Me as a human being

00:39:28I must stand up for that principle alone

00:39:32What I really want out of this thing

00:39:34Is to give every ball player

00:39:35The chance to be a human being

00:39:38And to take advantage of the fact

00:39:40That we live in a free and democratic society

00:39:42And he should have some choice

00:39:47I was living in a world

00:39:50Where if your boss decided you were going to Athens

00:39:53Or Denver

00:39:55That's where you were going

00:39:56You had only one option

00:39:58Which was to quit

00:40:01I always thought that what he did

00:40:03Was bigger than the fact that he was a famous athlete

00:40:07Or that he was black

00:40:08Or any of that

00:40:10I also thought

00:40:12They're going to crush him

00:40:13They've got a lot at stake here

00:40:15And he doesn't have a chance

00:40:18The owners' great propaganda was

00:40:21If you didn't have a reserve system

00:40:23The wealthiest clubs would get all the best players

00:40:27I think they thought there'd be chaos

00:40:29They thought competitive balance would go to hell in a handbasket

00:40:33And the game would be changed a great deal

00:40:36The stakes then couldn't have been higher for baseball's owners

00:40:40And the man they'd entrusted to protect their interests

00:40:43The main defendant in the case

00:40:45Commissioner Bowie Kuhn

00:40:47He was recruited by the owners

00:40:50He was paid by the owners

00:40:52Whatever authority he seemed to have

00:40:55Was only because they ceded it to him

00:40:59The best interest of baseball

00:41:01That was his mantra

00:41:02I think he felt that he had to present himself

00:41:05As a figure of moral rectitude

00:41:09But when Flood before filing suit

00:41:13Had appealed for his freedom to Kuhn

00:41:16On moral grounds

00:41:20The commissioner's response

00:41:21Made clear that the great American game

00:41:24Followed its own moral compass

00:41:29He understood what Kurt Flood was saying

00:41:32But those sorts of comments

00:41:34About the reserve system were not new

00:41:36Baseball's antitrust exemption

00:41:38Has been subjected to the scrutiny by the courts before

00:41:44Baseball's antitrust exemption

00:41:46Which enabled the owner's monopoly over their players

00:41:49Had been established in a Supreme Court decision

00:41:52Way back in 1922

00:41:54When Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

00:41:57Ruled that baseball was not interstate commerce

00:42:00And therefore not subject to antitrust laws

00:42:03Three decades later

00:42:05When a disgruntled Yankee farmhand

00:42:07Named George Toulson

00:42:08Challenged the reserve clause

00:42:10In hopes of making the majors with a new team

00:42:12The court upheld Holmes' earlier ruling

00:42:15Tightening the owner's grip on their players

00:42:18Which meant that in 1970

00:42:20Kurt Flood wasn't just challenging

00:42:22The national pastime

00:42:23He was taking on

00:42:25The most powerful legal body in the land

00:42:27Therefore it's monopolistic practices

00:42:30It's the only professional sport

00:42:33That has an exemption

00:42:34From the antitrust laws

00:42:35You say to yourself

00:42:37You're a dreamer

00:42:39You're not going to get a court of change

00:42:42But Miller had a legal ace up his sleeve

00:42:44One familiar with the inner workings of the court

00:42:47Former Secretary of Labor

00:42:49And former Supreme Court Justice

00:42:51Arthur Goldberg

00:42:52Who took Flood's case pro bono

00:42:56Arthur Goldberg for free

00:42:57That's like having Frank Sinatra sing

00:43:00At your daughter's wedding for nothing

00:43:02And he was a former Supreme Court Justice

00:43:04He's the perfect guy

00:43:08The notion that an ex-Supreme Court Justice

00:43:10Would be back arguing the case

00:43:12Before the Supreme Court

00:43:13That's very, very rare

00:43:16And it struck us as being

00:43:18Very problematic for us

00:43:20Before it could get to the Supreme Court, however

00:43:23The case would begin with a federal court trial

00:43:25In New York City

00:43:26And when Flood versus Kuhn

00:43:28Kicked off a month and a half

00:43:29Into the 1970 baseball season

00:43:32Goldberg appeared eager for battle

00:43:34I can't keep the judge waiting

00:43:36But Flood, who was sitting out the 70 season

00:43:39Entered his new arena saddled with uncertainty

00:43:42As he prepared to testify on the trial's first day

00:43:46He's an athlete

00:43:47He's not supposed to be sitting in a courtroom

00:43:49In the springtime

00:43:50He's supposed to be playing baseball

00:43:53He never had been a witness

00:43:55In a court trial before

00:43:56And he was nervous

00:43:58And somewhat flustered

00:44:02And the presiding judge

00:44:04Irving Ben Cooper

00:44:05Did little to put him at ease

00:44:09Cooper's behavior toward Flood

00:44:11Was outrageous

00:44:11He would make side remarks

00:44:14Being a witness

00:44:16In a federal court

00:44:17It's not as easy as catching a ball in center field

00:44:20Is it, Mr. Flood?

00:44:22No

00:44:24He did not come off as a good witness

00:44:27Mr. Goldberg

00:44:28What happened in court today?

00:44:30What happened in court?

00:44:31Gentlemen, we're trying a lawsuit

00:44:32The place to try a lawsuit is in court

00:44:34You can't discuss

00:44:36No, we cannot

00:44:38After day one

00:44:40The issue wasn't Kurt Flood

00:44:41And his personal plight anymore

00:44:43It was technical labor relations

00:44:45Antitrust sort of stuff

00:44:48I won't say he was totally irrelevant

00:44:50But he was certainly marginalized

00:44:54And as the six-week trial wore on

00:44:56Even more isolated from his peers

00:44:59One of the disappointments was

00:45:01That not a single ball player showed up

00:45:04He said if they had been walking down those stairs

00:45:07In unity

00:45:07It might have changed some of the news

00:45:10Or the way they could report the news

00:45:12That was one of his feelings

00:45:16The players could have been there

00:45:18In the early afternoon

00:45:19Or in the morning

00:45:19But I wasn't going to urge anybody to do it

00:45:24I wouldn't have showed up

00:45:25You could have?

00:45:27No

00:45:30I didn't think much about it, unfortunately

00:45:33I guess it would have been support

00:45:35But I was concerned about me

00:45:38And my family

00:45:38And making a living

00:45:39And I didn't want to be in the middle of that

00:45:42At all

00:45:45What little support Flood did get

00:45:47Came from baseball mavericks

00:45:49Like former owner Bill Veck

00:45:51Jewish baseball great Hank Greenberg

00:45:53And his idol, Jackie Robinson

00:45:56All of whom testified on his behalf

00:46:00When Robinson came in to court

00:46:02He was illuriously happy

00:46:05When he stops at Kurt's chair

00:46:08And whispers in his ear

00:46:09Keep your head up

00:46:10You're doing the right thing

00:46:11Tears started to well up in Flood's eyes

00:46:15At that moment

00:46:16Kurt knew he was doing the right thing

00:46:19He looked at Robinson's life

00:46:22And thought it can be done

00:46:24Well it was done by Robinson

00:46:26But it couldn't be done by Flood

00:46:29He was throwing himself against the wall

00:46:32As time went on

00:46:34I think something not good

00:46:36Happened from a mental standpoint

00:46:39In terms of what Kurt

00:46:41Had gotten himself into

00:46:44If reality was setting in

00:46:46So too were the consequences

00:46:47Of the $110,000 contract

00:46:50He'd passed up in rejecting the trade

00:46:53To Philadelphia

00:46:53His ex-wife Beverly

00:46:55Files another lawsuit

00:46:56Seeking back alimony and child support

00:46:59And his creditors in St. Louis

00:47:01Are suing him

00:47:02For debts owed

00:47:04For his photography business

00:47:06His income had stopped

00:47:08It wasn't a question of

00:47:09I've got the money

00:47:10I'm not going to pay you

00:47:11It was a question of

00:47:12I don't have any income

00:47:13I've used up my savings

00:47:15He had problems of all kinds

00:47:18And he had to have a worry

00:47:20About his drinking as well

00:47:22We would go out to lunch

00:47:23And he was both drinking

00:47:25And smoking more heavily

00:47:27Than I ever saw him do

00:47:29There were times

00:47:30When he had tremors of his hand

00:47:34I say

00:47:35Maybe you might want to

00:47:36Pull back a little

00:47:38But

00:47:39That meant nothing

00:47:42Alcohol may have offered Flood

00:47:44An escape during the trial

00:47:45But once testimony ended

00:47:48He chose a more traditional means

00:47:50He flees to Denmark

00:47:52Denmark

00:47:54That

00:47:55To me

00:47:55Is Kurt

00:47:57Gets

00:47:58Game he was suing

00:47:59Offered an unexpected one

00:48:02He gets a phone call

00:48:03From a Washington Post reporter

00:48:05Who said that Kurt's been traded

00:48:06To the Washington Senators

00:48:09His first reaction was

00:48:10Is this going to harm the case

00:48:14I told the guys

00:48:16I was in it to the end

00:48:17He needed the money

00:48:19And he wanted to play

00:48:21In other news today

00:48:23Baseball's holdout player

00:48:25Kurt Flood

00:48:25Signed a contract

00:48:26With the Washington Senators

00:48:27The contract reportedly

00:48:29Puts Flood's salary

00:48:30Over $100,000

00:48:32And it contains

00:48:33The controversial reserve clause

00:48:35That Flood has been attacking

00:48:36In the courts

00:48:37I haven't really changed

00:48:38My philosophy about the whole thing

00:48:41But sometimes

00:48:42You have to do things

00:48:42That aren't tasteful

00:48:43This is the only way

00:48:45I can play baseball

00:48:46He came back for a paycheck

00:48:48He did not come back

00:48:50Because he wanted to go

00:48:51To one of baseball's

00:48:53Worst franchises

00:48:54I'm more than sure

00:48:55That I can come back

00:48:56A year layoff

00:48:57Is not a lot of time

00:49:00But when he suited up

00:49:01For the 71 season

00:49:02It quickly became clear

00:49:04That a year in Flood's case

00:49:06Had been an eternity

00:49:09To see him during the first half

00:49:11Of spring training

00:49:11You would say

00:49:12Well this guy

00:49:14There's no way

00:49:14He could have ever played

00:49:15In the majors

00:49:17Flood had been drinking

00:49:18Womanizing

00:49:19The Senators trainer

00:49:20Said that Kurt had

00:49:22The oldest 33 year old body

00:49:23He had ever seen

00:49:25I think he thought

00:49:26Sure I'm rusty

00:49:27Sure this is

00:49:28Going to take time

00:49:30But the skills were gone

00:49:33And I think that was

00:49:35Because he couldn't

00:49:36Concentrate on baseball

00:49:38It's in the court of appeals

00:49:40And the only place

00:49:41We'll ever get any justice

00:49:41I think will be

00:49:42In the supreme court

00:49:43Right now

00:49:44I'm not going to worry about it

00:49:45I've got enough troubles

00:49:45Playing center field

00:49:48He really did not like

00:49:49Talking about the case

00:49:52And it's the news media's

00:49:54First chance

00:49:55To get at him

00:49:57And he can't get away from him

00:50:00Not being able to perform

00:50:02On the field

00:50:03He'd go back to the room

00:50:05And he'd start drinking

00:50:07And then the next day

00:50:09After having drank all night

00:50:11Go to the ballpark

00:50:12Eyes all red

00:50:13And the same thing would happen

00:50:16I mean he would always call

00:50:18And say what was going on

00:50:20In spring training

00:50:21And come on out

00:50:22And that kind of thing

00:50:23But there was almost

00:50:24Like a silence

00:50:29Behind the scenes

00:50:31Kurt was dealing

00:50:33With a lot of demons

00:50:35He was receiving

00:50:36All this hate mail

00:50:38Tons of hate mail

00:50:41He probably received

00:50:43Four or five

00:50:45Assassination threats

00:50:46A day

00:50:48In almost every letter

00:50:50He was being called

00:50:51Some type of a nigger

00:50:56And he would tell me

00:50:57I'm doing the same thing

00:51:00Any man would do

00:51:01Black or white

00:51:05When the regular season

00:51:07Finally arrived

00:51:08Flood's skills

00:51:09Were still missing in action

00:51:11Hitting an anemic 150

00:51:13After a week of play

00:51:14He was benched

00:51:16By manager Ted Williams

00:51:19Never in my wildest dream

00:51:21Did I think

00:51:22That he would fail

00:51:23At coming back

00:51:24His career with a 200 average

00:51:25That season

00:51:28I really thought

00:51:29He'd be fine

00:51:32Just that he

00:51:33He quit

00:51:34He quit

00:51:38Being in his company

00:51:40You were accepting

00:51:41Some of the weight

00:51:43Of the world

00:51:45Because it was right there

00:51:50On April 27th

00:51:5218 games

00:51:53Into the 71 season

00:51:54The Senators

00:51:55Arrived at RFK Stadium

00:51:57For a game

00:51:58Against the Minnesota Twins

00:52:00Their high price

00:52:01Center fielder

00:52:02Was nowhere

00:52:03To be found

00:52:05He's not there

00:52:07I'm worried

00:52:09I kept thinking

00:52:11I hope he didn't

00:52:12Do something crazy

00:52:13We're told

00:52:16To come into the clubhouse

00:52:18And we're read

00:52:20The telegram

00:52:22That he had sent

00:52:32Vanished

00:52:33Just poof

00:52:35Gone

00:52:41I had no idea

00:52:45Where he was

00:52:46After maybe three weeks

00:52:50He called me

00:52:51First words out of his mouth

00:52:53Were

00:52:55I'm not coming back

00:52:58Basically he told me

00:53:00That I should move on

00:53:04It was as if

00:53:05He had had a life here

00:53:08And it didn't exist anymore

00:53:10And he just was not

00:53:12Going to be here anymore

00:53:16The hate mail

00:53:17And evaporation

00:53:18Of his skills

00:53:19Weren't all

00:53:20That had triggered

00:53:21Flood's disappearance

00:53:22Two days

00:53:23Before he had vanished

00:53:24His ex-wife

00:53:25Had filed yet another

00:53:26Lawsuit

00:53:27Seeking money

00:53:27She was owed

00:53:28Money

00:53:29Kurt Flood

00:53:30Despite his

00:53:31Six-figure contract

00:53:32Did not have

00:53:33Flood could have

00:53:34Played another

00:53:35Five to ten years

00:53:36Hate debts

00:53:38His advice

00:53:39From his

00:53:40Attorney

00:53:40Alan Zerman

00:53:41Was to declare bankruptcy

00:53:42But that would have

00:53:44Come at an enormous cost

00:53:46Filing bankruptcy

00:53:47Would have given

00:53:48The bankruptcy trustee

00:53:49The power to resolve

00:53:51All litigation

00:53:52Which would have

00:53:52Included the baseball case

00:53:55Kurt's choice

00:53:56Not to do that

00:53:56Says to me

00:53:58I'm not going to

00:53:59Settle this case

00:53:59Not to make all

00:54:01My financial problems

00:54:02Go away

00:54:02I gave my word

00:54:04I'm going to see it through

00:54:05And he did

00:54:10The Supreme Court

00:54:12Finally returned

00:54:13With a chance

00:54:14To argue down

00:54:15Baseball's

00:54:15Antitrust exemption

00:54:16And bring home

00:54:17Kurt Flood's

00:54:18Million to one shot

00:54:21First this morning

00:54:22In number 71

00:54:2332

00:54:25Curtis C. Flood

00:54:27Against

00:54:27Hume

00:54:28And others

00:54:30When Goldberg

00:54:31Got up in front

00:54:32Of that courtroom

00:54:32That day

00:54:33He totally

00:54:34Froze

00:54:35He started reciting

00:54:36The facts

00:54:37In almost

00:54:38Rote fashion

00:54:39His batting averages

00:54:41Were in 1963

00:54:43302

00:54:451934

00:54:45311

00:54:461964

00:54:47311

00:54:48He got lost

00:54:50And then he started

00:54:50Reciting the facts again

00:54:52And Justice Brennan

00:54:53Who was a close friend

00:54:54Of Goldberg

00:54:55And he just sort of like

00:54:56Put his head down

00:54:58He really didn't

00:55:00Behave properly

00:55:01Before the court

00:55:01He didn't answer

00:55:02Their questions

00:55:03Mr. Justice

00:55:04May I ask you

00:55:05No

00:55:06And I shall discuss that

00:55:08When I come to the

00:55:09Labor exemption

00:55:09I hope you're going

00:55:10To get to that

00:55:11I will move fast

00:55:14I was embarrassed

00:55:16I wanted to

00:55:17Slink down

00:55:17Under the table

00:55:18Is he drunk?

00:55:19At the conclusion

00:55:20He wanted to say

00:55:21Something more

00:55:22And was not allowed to

00:55:23And that struck me

00:55:25As oh my god

00:55:27About what?

00:55:29Your time is

00:55:30Completely consumed

00:55:32It was something

00:55:33Of a debacle

00:55:37Anyone

00:55:38Who's a lawyer

00:55:39Could have done

00:55:39A better job

00:55:40Than Arthur Goldberg

00:55:41That day

00:55:42I think he minimized

00:55:44The effect

00:55:44Of his case

00:55:45And I think

00:55:46I came pretty close

00:55:47To maximizing

00:55:48Hours

00:55:48Also today

00:55:50The court heard

00:55:51Oral arguments

00:55:52On a suit

00:55:52Against baseball's

00:55:53Reserve clause

00:55:54A suit brought

00:55:55By former St. Louis

00:55:57Cardinal outfielder

00:55:58Kurt Flood

00:56:00Flood was not present

00:56:09I always got the impression

00:56:11When I looked at him

00:56:13That he'd been through a lot

00:56:15And was just kind of

00:56:17Recuperating

00:56:20After leaving the senators

00:56:22Flood had washed ashore

00:56:24On the Spanish island

00:56:25Of Mallorca

00:56:27Amongst a community

00:56:28Of fellow wayward souls

00:56:29He'd found it seemed

00:56:31Just what he was looking for

00:56:34Nobody queried anybody

00:56:36About anything

00:56:37We were living

00:56:39What happened yesterday

00:56:41Was gone

00:56:45He's a mystery man

00:56:46He's totally isolated himself

00:56:49From the outside world

00:56:54Dad escaped

00:56:57At this age

00:56:58I can say that

00:56:59You know

00:57:00When I was 13

00:57:00I couldn't

00:57:03In exile

00:57:04Flood regained

00:57:05An existence

00:57:08With financial help

00:57:09From a girlfriend

00:57:10He bought a bar

00:57:11Called the Rustic Inn

00:57:12Where he whiled away

00:57:13His days and nights

00:57:14As bartender

00:57:15Patron and host

00:57:16Rolled into one

00:57:19A lot of American ships

00:57:21Came in

00:57:22The sailors

00:57:23Found out

00:57:24About him

00:57:25And they used to

00:57:26Flock in there

00:57:27When they were there

00:57:29Kurt Flood

00:57:30Was a big fan

00:57:30Of Muhammad Ali

00:57:32And he had tapes

00:57:33Of all his fights

00:57:34So he used to play them

00:57:37And all the Americans

00:57:38There

00:57:39They seemed to

00:57:40Love it

00:57:42And Kurt

00:57:43Would be standing there

00:57:44With a smile

00:57:45On his face

00:57:49The Supreme Court

00:57:50Today

00:57:51Rejected a suit

00:57:52By ex-outfielder

00:57:53Kurt Flood

00:57:54The court ruled

00:57:55Five to three

00:57:56That baseball

00:57:56Although clearly

00:57:57A business engaged

00:57:58In interstate commerce

00:57:59Has long been granted

00:58:01A special status

00:58:02With respect to

00:58:02Antitrust legislation

00:58:04The ruling said

00:58:05If that special status

00:58:06Is to be removed

00:58:07It should be done

00:58:08By congress

00:58:08And not the court

00:58:13Kurt you're right

00:58:14We screwed up twice

00:58:16But we're not

00:58:17Going to change it

00:58:18We're going to

00:58:18Leave it up to congress

00:58:19Which has no chance

00:58:20Of changing it

00:58:20It's an embarrassing

00:58:22Decision

00:58:24The court had become

00:58:25Much more conservative

00:58:26And much more willing

00:58:27To keep this situation

00:58:28Regarding antitrust

00:58:30That applied to

00:58:31All other professional sports

00:58:32But not to baseball

00:58:42Justice Lewis Powell

00:58:44On Flood's side

00:58:45After an initial vote

00:58:46Withdrew from the case

00:58:48Because he owns stock

00:58:49In Anheuser-Busch

00:58:50What?

00:58:51A conflict of interest

00:58:52No!

00:58:53The resulting 4-4 deadlock

00:58:55Was broken only after

00:58:56Chief Justice Warren Burger

00:58:58Switched his vote

00:59:00At the 11th hour

00:59:01Flood lost on quirks

00:59:04And given the vote switching

00:59:06That went on

00:59:07Given that it was

00:59:09A really close case

00:59:11A good oral argument

00:59:13And Flood would have

00:59:14Won the case

00:59:16In my mind

00:59:18We were never

00:59:19Going to win anyway

00:59:21And could now

00:59:22Just check off

00:59:23Another way

00:59:24Of doing something

00:59:25About the reserve clause

00:59:27What's this going to do

00:59:28To Kurt Flood

00:59:30Well I guess

00:59:31Kurt is going to

00:59:32Have to consider

00:59:33Where he goes

00:59:34And what he does

00:59:35On his own

00:59:35At this point

00:59:40I telephoned him

00:59:42He felt the color

00:59:43Of his skin

00:59:44Was a factor here

00:59:46If the player

00:59:46Had been a white player

00:59:48He kept believing

00:59:49That it would have

00:59:50A different result

00:59:51I told him

00:59:53I thought

00:59:54That was absurd

00:59:57Kurt may not

00:59:59Have been emotionally

00:59:59Prepared

01:00:00For the decision

01:00:01In the history

01:00:02Of man

01:00:03There's no other

01:00:04Profession

01:00:04It's not slavery

01:00:05And everything

01:00:06That happened

01:00:07After

01:00:07Argued that he

01:00:09Wasn't emotionally

01:00:09Prepared

01:00:16His life

01:00:17Quickly spiraled

01:00:18Downward

01:00:23Looking back

01:00:24Over my first

01:00:25Dreams

01:00:26That I once knew

01:00:30The police

01:00:32Catch him

01:00:32Trying to steal

01:00:34From an Andorran

01:00:35Department store

01:00:36Is it because

01:00:38I'm black

01:00:38They break his left arm

01:00:40And throw him in jail

01:00:41Somebody tell me

01:00:42What can I do

01:00:46Will I survive

01:00:47Or will I die

01:00:51By the time

01:00:52He goes to the

01:00:53Barcelona Psychiatric Hospital

01:00:55The State Department

01:00:56Gets work

01:00:56In this world

01:00:58Of no pity

01:00:59I was raised

01:01:01In the ghettos

01:01:02Of the city

01:01:03Yeah

01:01:04All along

01:01:07I sent the money

01:01:09For him to come home

01:01:10When he came home

01:01:12He didn't have anything

01:01:13Except what he had

01:01:14In his arm

01:01:15I think he had

01:01:16A dog

01:01:18And the clothes

01:01:19He had on

01:01:20And that was

01:01:21About it

01:01:25Something is

01:01:26Holding me back

01:01:29It was difficult

01:01:30Getting the real deal

01:01:31About exactly

01:01:32What happened

01:01:33Because I'm black

01:01:34He hardly admitted

01:01:36Being in a

01:01:37Psychiatric hospital

01:01:38Curtis was

01:01:40The kind of person

01:01:40Who you know

01:01:41No bad news

01:01:43But Karen Brecker

01:01:45Who worked with

01:01:45Flood's sister

01:01:46At a local

01:01:47Welfare agency

01:01:47Knew a desperate

01:01:49Case when she

01:01:49Saw one

01:01:51She met Flood

01:01:52When he was

01:01:52Living with his

01:01:53Mother

01:01:53And began dating

01:01:54Him soon after

01:01:56A dubious accident

01:01:57In which he'd

01:01:58Fractured his skull

01:01:59Following a

01:02:00Drunken fall

01:02:00From his roof

01:02:02I think he was

01:02:03Trying to kill

01:02:03Himself

01:02:04He was

01:02:06Cataclysmically

01:02:07Depressed

01:02:08He said to me

01:02:10Get me out of

01:02:11Here

01:02:11So I said

01:02:12Okay

01:02:13A labor

01:02:14Arbitrator

01:02:15Handed down

01:02:15A ruling

01:02:16Today

01:02:16That could

01:02:17Shake the

01:02:17Foundations

01:02:18Of organized

01:02:18Baseball

01:02:19Pitchers

01:02:20Andy Messersmith

01:02:21Of the Los

01:02:21Angeles Dodgers

01:02:22And Dave

01:02:23McNally

01:02:23Of the

01:02:23Montreal

01:02:24Expos

01:02:25Were declared

01:02:25Free agents

01:02:28In the years

01:02:28Since Flood

01:02:29Had sued

01:02:29Baseball

01:02:30Marvin Miller

01:02:31And the

01:02:31Union

01:02:32Had forged

01:02:33Forward

01:02:33In the

01:02:33Battle

01:02:34For free

01:02:34Agency

01:02:35Not through

01:02:36The legal

01:02:36System

01:02:37As Flood

01:02:37Had tried

01:02:37But through

01:02:38Collective

01:02:39Bargaining

01:02:39Which among

01:02:40Other things

01:02:41Had won

01:02:42Players

01:02:42The right

01:02:43To have

01:02:43An independent

01:02:44Arbitrator

01:02:44Decide

01:02:45Their grievances

01:02:46And in

01:02:471975

01:02:48After Andy

01:02:49Messersmith

01:02:50And Dave

01:02:50McNally

01:02:51Played a

01:02:51Whole season

01:02:52Without contracts

01:02:53They

01:02:54Aided by

01:02:55Miller

01:02:55Filed a

01:02:56Grievance

01:02:56Claiming

01:02:57They were

01:02:57Free agents

01:02:58From the

01:02:58Very beginning

01:02:59We always

01:02:59Thought it

01:03:00Was quite

01:03:00Clear

01:03:00The contract

01:03:02Provided

01:03:02The club

01:03:03Can renew

01:03:03The contract

01:03:04For one

01:03:04Year

01:03:05That's it

01:03:08And just

01:03:09As the

01:03:09Union

01:03:09Had hoped

01:03:10An independent

01:03:11Arbitrator

01:03:12Released them

01:03:12From their

01:03:13Contracts

01:03:13Baseball's

01:03:15Reserve system

01:03:16Had been

01:03:16Destroyed

01:03:17Six years

01:03:18After Flood

01:03:19Had hurled

01:03:20The first stone

01:03:21Flood's

01:03:22Lawsuit

01:03:23Changed the

01:03:24Climate

01:03:24Of public

01:03:24Opinion

01:03:25About free

01:03:25Agency

01:03:26It raised

01:03:27The awareness

01:03:27That this

01:03:28System

01:03:28Isn't fair

01:03:30It opened

01:03:31The door

01:03:32Then there

01:03:33Had to be

01:03:33Some other

01:03:34People that

01:03:34Had some

01:03:35Guts too

01:03:36The Flood

01:03:37Case

01:03:38At the

01:03:38Very least

01:03:39Gave impetus

01:03:41To getting

01:03:42Impartial

01:03:42Arbitration

01:03:43Of grievances

01:03:44And that

01:03:46In turn

01:03:46Led to

01:03:47The Mrs.

01:03:48Smith

01:03:48McAuley

01:03:49Case

01:03:50The thoughtful

01:03:51Players

01:03:52Gave

01:03:53Kurt Flood

01:03:53At least

01:03:54A modicum

01:03:55Of credit

01:03:57But that

01:03:58Provided

01:03:59Nary a

01:03:59Modicum

01:04:00Of solace

01:04:00For Flood

01:04:01Himself

01:04:02He's

01:04:03Completely

01:04:03Estranged

01:04:04From the

01:04:04Game of

01:04:05Baseball

01:04:05And everything

01:04:06That he

01:04:06Fought for

01:04:07He's never

01:04:08Going to

01:04:08See the

01:04:08Benefit

01:04:09Of any

01:04:09Of it

01:04:09He's

01:04:10Now

01:04:10Really

01:04:10Hitting

01:04:10Home

01:04:12What do

01:04:13You want

01:04:13To do

01:04:13Now

01:04:14Well

01:04:14I'm

01:04:14Going

01:04:15To

01:04:15Manage

01:04:15A

01:04:15Little

01:04:15League

01:04:15Team

01:04:16Believe

01:04:16It

01:04:17Or

01:04:17Not

01:04:18And

01:04:18That's

01:04:19Really

01:04:19All

01:04:19I

01:04:19Want

01:04:19To

01:04:19Do

01:04:20Good

01:04:20Luck

01:04:20With

01:04:20That

01:04:23Flood

01:04:23Had returned

01:04:24To the

01:04:24Game

01:04:24He loved

01:04:25But once

01:04:29Loudest

01:04:29Critic

01:04:29Found

01:04:30Trouble

01:04:31Summoning

01:04:31His

01:04:31Voice

01:04:32He knew

01:04:33He wasn't

01:04:34Doing

01:04:34Very

01:04:34Well

01:04:35But he

01:04:36Was trying

01:04:37To keep

01:04:37It going

01:04:41They'd

01:04:41Ask him

01:04:42A question

01:04:43And there'd

01:04:44Be silence

01:04:46He's

01:04:47Counting

01:04:47Clouds

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01:21:18Any

01:21:19One

01:21:19Of

01:21:19Us

01:21:20Might

01:21:20Do

01:21:21This

01:21:22Gives

01:21:22Us

01:21:22A

01:21:22Little

01:21:23More

01:21:23Power

01:21:24When

01:21:24We

01:21:24Face

01:21:24The

01:21:25Man

01:21:25Or

01:21:25The

01:21:26Establishment

01:21:27And

01:21:28The

01:21:29Guys

01:21:29Who

01:21:29Threw

01:21:30Away

01:21:30Their

01:21:30Lives

01:21:31To

01:21:31Do

01:21:31That

01:21:32We

01:21:33Owe

01:21:33A

01:21:33Great

01:21:33Deal

01:21:33To

01:21:34You

01:21:35Feel

01:21:35You

01:21:35Have

01:21:35A

01:21:35Place

01:21:36In

01:21:36Baseball

01:21:37History

01:21:37And

01:21:38If

01:21:38So

01:21:38Is

01:21:38Important

01:21:39To

01:21:39You

01:21:40It

01:21:41Is

01:21:41Important

01:21:41To

01:21:42As

01:21:43Important

01:21:43As

01:21:44Doing

01:21:44What

01:21:44I

01:21:44Did

01:21:45Was

01:21:45I

01:21:46Don't

01:21:46Think

01:21:47I

01:21:47Will

01:21:47Be

01:21:47Forgotten

01:21:48Very

01:21:48Soon

01:21:49Because

01:21:49I

01:21:49Was

01:21:50One

01:21:50Of

01:21:50The

01:21:50First

01:21:50To

01:21:51Stand

01:21:51Up

01:21:51And

01:21:51Say

01:21:51Hey

01:21:52At

01:21:52One

01:21:52Point

01:21:53In

01:21:53Your

01:21:53Life

01:21:54You

01:21:54Ought

01:21:54To

01:21:54Be

01:21:54To

01:21:55Control

01:21:55Your

01:21:55Career

01:21:56And

01:21:57That's

01:21:57What

01:21:57It

01:21:57Was

01:21:57All

01:21:58About

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