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A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports

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Brad Snyder has done it again. Following on the heels of his much-acclaimed Beyond The Shadow of the Senators, Snyder returns to the pinnacle of his profession with A Well-Paid Slave, a gripping account of Curt Flood's fight for free agency in professional sports. In my opinion, Snyder's latest work is at once the best baseball book and the best law book that I've read in years. It is a gem that shows off Snyder's talents as a writer, researcher, and legal analyst.

On Oct. 7, 1969, Flood, an All-Star and Gold Glove centerfielder with the St. Louis Cardinals, was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Instead of accepting the trade, Flood challenged the reserve clause, which bound players to their teams for life, and brought a lawsuit that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Although he narrowly lost before the Court, Flood paved the way for free agency and helped give ballplayers some say in where they played. The free agents who will sign multimillion dollar contracts this off-season owe some of their good fortune to Flood. According to Snyder, Jackie Robinson started a racial revolution by putting on a uniform and Flood started an economic revolution by taking his uniform off.

In one riveting volume, Snyder manages both to tell Flood's personal and professional story and to present in a manner that is comprehensible even to those without formal legal training the amazing story of Flood's case, from the trial level all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as its implications forty years later.

In a lengthy review this past Sunday, the New York Times Book Review concluded: "Generations of ballplayers -- Curt Flood's children -- have never honored him properly. But with his fine book, Brad Snyder surely has." I could not have said it better myself. Snyder is a star. A must read for anyone interested in baseball, American history, law, and sociology.

We have recently had definitive biographies of baseball stars Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Roberto Clemente, and Lou Gehrig. We can now add Curt Flood's name to that list with author Brad Snyder's effort entitled A Well-Paid Slave. As Flood stated, "A well-paid slave is nonetheless a slave." Flood's skills may have been on the downside with his trade to Philadelphia following the 1969 season due to his late night activities. The infamous trade only added to this problem with his refusal to report to the Phillies, and his suit against the game's establishment. He tried in a failed comeback with Bob Short's Washington Senators in 1970, and then retreated to Denmark. Players union head Marvin Miller got former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg to represent Flood, but Goldberg broke a promise to Miller not to run for political office. Deciding to run for governor of New York Goldberg was woefully unprepared to represent Flood before the Supreme Court. Frankly he embarrassed himself by giving what he called his worst performance ever. Flood's post-baseball life was difficult for the most part, but his loss before the Supreme Court alerted the baseball establishment that their lock on the game's reserve clause remained fragile. Eventually pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally won free agency when arbitrator Peter Seitz sided with the players after pleading with the owners and players to work something out together. The owners took their chances and Seitz sided with the players. Flood eventually kicked his alcohol and tobacco habit, and had happy years of remarriage and attendance at various baseball functions, but found out in 1995 that he had throat cancer. Howard Cosell, Marvin Miller, and old adversary Joe Garagiola, who testified against him in his suit, helped him out as did former teammates Bob Gibson and Bill White. Garagiola, who headed baseball's BAT organization for former players who needed help acknowledged how wrong he was in not supporting Flood's suit, because he thought it would hurt the game. "How wrong I was," Garagiola stated. This is a book present-day athletes in all sports need to read to educate themselves as to the advantages and riches they enjoy that Curt Flood and others like him never had.

There has been very little written about Curt Flood since his "autobiography" in the early 1970s and once a majority of the Supreme Court ruled that the reserve clause in MLB contracts would remain intact.

Author Brad Snyder does outstanding research in covering every aspect of Flood; from a young person who showed emerging talent in baseball, to the minor-leaguer confronting the absolute evil of racism in the stands and on his teams, the great center-fielder with hall-of-fame credentials, to his virtually standing alone in his court battle and his struggles as a former pro player who was viewed by so many as wanting to destroy the game.

The politics of the judicial system undid Flood's case. The majority opinion in the Supreme Court was written by a Justice whose research yielded a listing a great players from year's past. A colleague actually voted in favor of the opinion when one of his favorite players was included in that part of the text.

Flood virtually became a footnote in baseball history a mere six years after he elected to challenge the reserve clause. A definitive biography has been long overdue. But I can say now that is has been well worth the wait.

The task for writers who want to publish a book on the life and times of Flood will now be next to impossible. A Well-Paid Slave is a classic.

Brad Snyder's "A Well Paid Slave" is a book every baseball fan should read. The story of Curt Flood and his fight for free agency is one of the most pivotal events in professional sports.

Snyder is the ideal person to write about Flood's battle. He covered the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun, is a lawyer and a gifted writer. He brings all of his strengths to this book. As a result, it is thoroughly researched, easy to read, and explains the legal proceedings in layman terms. Snyder tells Flood's story, warts and all.

Flood's personal sacrifice was great, and few players appreciated it. Despite Flood's personal shortcomings (alcoholism, womanizing, and a deceiving portrait business), you can't help but to feel sympathetic toward him. The majority of the fans and sportswriters in 1970, thought of Flood, who made $100,000 a year, as greedy. They saw him as someone who was trying to ruin the game.

It was interesting to read how little support Flood received from the other black superstars of the era--Frank Robinson, Hank Aaron, and others. They were too concerned about their futures in baseball to rock the boat. It was also interesting to find out what happened to Flood after his retirement from baseball.

The book bogs down a bit in the sections about the Supreme Court case, but after all this is a book about a law suit. And, Snyder deftly handles the material.

Mr. Snyder I am reading your book about Curt Flood and I find it to be one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read. I love baseball (but as a life long Texas Rangers fan, it has not loved me back) and have said on many occasions that each player in professional baseball should have two pictures that they carry with them; Jackie Robinson because he helped to make the game inclusive and Curt Flood, because he freed the players from their indentured servitude and gave them the ability to sale their services as they see fit. Now having said that, I have on more than one occasion cursed a player as he was leaving my team in free agency, to, as they say in the cliché "secure my family's future," but that is the fan in me and as a fan I am not required to be objective. When I think of what it would be like if I could not sell my skills to another company at a time and location of my choosing, I realize that what Curt Flood wanted from baseball is completely fair. Through reading your book, I see Curt as sort of a Christ-like figure; certainly not without his flaws, but possessing a level of principle and dignity that is sorely lacking in this day and age. To do what he did for others is the greatest self-sacrifice that one can aspire to.



Again, thanks for this book. I will recommend it to anyone who has a real interest in learning more about this important subject.

Growing up I had a vague understanding of who Curt Flood was- though often I heard of him as the guy who screwed up baseball. Later, of course, I learned more about his real impact on the game and his strong stand but I still never did get the whole story until I read Brad Snyder's wonderful book. The book really makes its mark as one of the finest baseball books I have read in some time but also as a terrific story of a fascinating legal case as well. Curt Flood took his case to the Supreme Court and the process his case goes through is well documented by Snyder. Baseball fans and fans of the legal system will both enjoy this book. Flood is cast in a sympathetic light but his flaws are also documented by Snyder and the reader is allowed to get a real look at the man and not just the guy on the baseball card. His failed relationships, his fight with addiction, all of it is laid out in the book. It was disappointing for me to learn how some of the best players of the day failed to stand by Flood during this battle he was waging for all players and Snyder does a nice job of talking to those players and getting them to explain their actions. This book would be a nice addition to any baseball fan's library or to anyone who enjoys to see a fascinating legal decision broken down and examined. It is an important historical record of an event that changed the face of baseball forever.

Curt flood forever changed the game of baseball with challenging Baseball's status quo. it cost him,but he paved the way for every player that came after him. in fact as far as I'm concerned if you got the choice of leaving one team&going to another you owe this man a salute. Brad Snyder does a great job at breaking things down with how Curt Flood took Baseball to court. this Books goes into detail about Curt Flood's Life on the field&off of it. Curt Flood took what Jackie Robinson started&took the baton to a whole different level for the Players that would come thereafter. this is a very well written&documentated book. Curt Flood has never gotten his full due at all.

Every professional athlete who ever took their $200,000 Maybach Coupe off the dealership curb at 120mph would do well to spend some time with Curt Flood - familiarizing themselves with the man who single-handedly made their bling, their "ride" and their brain dead self-involvement not only possible but, with a nod to the school of unintended consequences, the mother's milk of SportsCenter, MTV and countless police blotters.

Unfortunately, the only thing you might hear over the drone of 350 horses is... "Curt Who?"

Under the exceptionally detailed eye of author Brad Snyder, Curt Flood emerges as the Meridian between sports eras - the pre-Flood reliance on the innocence of gee-wiz heroism (Mantle, Unitas) juxtaposed against the new school emphasis on superstar "brand management" and the unbridled, zero-sum economics that feeds the "Moneyball" mind-set of Personal Seat Licenses, $15 Heinekens and PPV revenue schemes.... Lease Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jack!

Flood risked (and ultimately lost everything) to challenge Major League Baseball's "reserve clause" in order to void his trade from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1970, attempting to abolish a rule that had effectively bound a player to the same team for life since the 1920's.

A well-paid, better-than-average outfielder, Flood had nothing to gain by taking on Baseball, and some would argue, none of the classic attributes normally associated with leaders of movements - except for his gut that kept telling him the "clause" was fundamentally wrong. In retrospect, can you really blame anyone for not wanting to move to Philadelphia!?

Flood's story is not only a profile in courage but a cautionary tale about an (extra) ordinary individual who ignites a chain of events that quickly spiral beyond his control.

What is so fascinating about the story is the inside game - an initially reluctant Marvin Miller (former head of the MLB players union) the hostility of his fellow ballplayers who simply didn't want to rock the boat and the petty machinations of then Commissioner Bowie Kuhn who tried to kill Flood's baby in the crib. In one court challenge after another, Flood was turned away and ultimately lost in a last-stand challenge to the Supreme Court.

As an aside, Flood's hiring of former Supreme Court Justice, Arthur Goldberg to argue the case before his former colleagues is especially horrifying as Goldberg's preoccupation and distraction with his own political ambitions undermined his preparation and ultimately doomed Flood's last chance at legal redemption.

In the aftermath of his "defeat", Flood's life is one long tailspin. After one listless stint with the Washington Senators in 1971 (his frosty relationship with Ted Williams Washington's legendary manager, turned frozen entrée, is a tasty sidebar.) Flood's baseball career expires, leaving him to drift between Europe and the US with financial and marital ruin following in his wake.

Only towards the end of his life did he fully comprehend that MLB's near-death experience at his hands paved the way for the abolition of the Reserve Clause in 1975 - ultimately re-proving the age-old adage that a principle is not really a principle until it costs you something. A must read for Scott Boras, A-Rod - and anyone else in MLB's current firmament who believes it's all about them.

It has been so many years since the events depicted in "A Well Paid Slave" took place that I had largely forgotten a good deal of the story. In fact, I am ashamed to admit that I was unaware or had completely forgotten that Curt Flood passed away more than a decade ago. The story of Curt Flood was one that desperately needed to be told. I certainly needed to be reminded of the tremendous sacrifices that this man made when he gave up literally everything to challenge baseball's sacrosanct reserve clause in 1970. Oddly enough author Brad Snyder thought that the story of Curt Flood was so compelling that he abruptly quit his job at a prominent Washington D.C. law firm in order to devote full time to writing "A Well Paid Slave". This is a story of a man who was willing to put it all on the line for the principles he believed in. He seemed to be fully aware of the ramifications of his decision. Yet, as you will discover Curt Flood paid a price far greater than he, his legal team, or his small cadre of supporters could ever have imagined. Indeed, life would never ever be the same for the former St. Louis Cardinals centerfielder.

By way of review, or for those too young to remember, the event that triggered this historic chain of events was the news shortly after the 1969 season that the St. Louis Cardinals had sent Curt Flood to the Philadelphia Phillies as part of a seven player swap. After a dozen notable seasons with the Cardinals what really irritated and hurt Flood the most was that he first learned of the deal from a reporter. And when the Cardinals finally did call to inform him of the trade the caller was not General Manager Bing Devine but one of his assistants. Flood was furious and immediately vowed that he would never report to the Phillies. In Flood's view baseball players were being treated like cattle. The reserve clause essentially bound a player to his team for life. For 90 years, baseball players had been bought and sold without any regard whatsoever to the players wishes. Flood recalled the time in 1957 when as a young Cincinnati Reds farmhand he was told that he had been traded to St. Louis. Curt Flood vowed right then and there that he would never again submit himself to a trade. True to his word Curt Flood announced that he would retire rather than report to the Phillies.

The idea for suing Major League Baseball over the reserve clause was first proposed in a meeting Flood had with St. Louis attorney Allan H. Zerman in early 1970. This was Zerman's idea. The more Curt Flood thought about it the more he was convinced that he was the man to challenge Major League Baseball's anti-trust exemption and ultimately the reserve clause. Shortly thereafter he decided to call Marvin Miller. The rest is history. Throughout "A Well Paid Slave" author Brad Snyder does a workmanlike job of tracing the long and winding road that Flood's legal case would take. Curt Flood and his legal team were under no illusions. They knew they were in for a long and bloody battle that they were likely to lose. MLB would use its vast influence and political connections to make sure that the status quo would be preserved. And like Curt Flood, readers are bound to get a bit upset when they read about some of the shenanigans that took place at the Supreme Court while this case was being considered. Brad Snyder also spends a great deal of time focusing on Curt Flood's personal life both during the time of the litigation and after. Sad to say this part of the story has more downs that ups but it is very important that people understand what Curt Flood went through in order to change a blatantly unfair system. In the end Curt Flood would fail in his attempt to overturn the reserve clause. But no one can deny that it was his courageous decision to press the issue that paved the way for free agency as we know it today.

Without a doubt, "A Well Paid Slave" is one of the most meticulously documented books I have ever read. There are 80 pages of notes at the end of the book! This book grabbed my attention in the first few pages and I simply could not put it down. Like the man this book is about "A Well Paid Slave" certainly deserved a lot more attention than it got. This is a book that can be enjoyed by a wide audience that would include sports fans, history buffs and general readers as well. Obviously, it goes without saying that this one should be required reading for all professional athletes who owe a debt of gratitude to a man who chose to make a stand. Very highly recommended!

Arthur Goldberg's grandson takes strong issue with Brad Snyder's excellent and wonderful book about Curt Flood for the singular, though substantial, reason that Mr. Snyder was, in Mr. Goldberg's view, unfair to his famous and respected grandfather, former Supreme Court Justice and former UN Ambassador Arthur Goldberg.

As someone who recently finished Mr. Snyder's book, and found it outstanding, I wish to respond to Mr. Goldberg's defense of his grandfather and defend Mr. Snyder:

When one notes everything Mr. Goldberg states in his earlier review, it remains true to the portrait Mr. Snyder has painted of Mr. Goldberg as more accurate than inacurrate. Goldberg's vanity did play a significant role in his leaving the Supreme Court to take the position of UN Ambassador. Goldberg did mislead Marvin Miller when he said he would not run for governor of New York when Goldberg already knew he was being approached to run for governor of New York against a then very vulnerable Nelson Rockefeller. Goldberg refused to work up the Flood case and take it as seriously as was needed. The reviewer Goldberg's statement claims Topkis and the other quoted associate lawyer had an ax to grind, with no evidence for this statement provided--which leaves me unpersuaded. Having been in the position of the associated lawyers in various lawsuits, and sometimes seeing lead lawyers concentrate on everything else but the case, it makes me strongly believe Topkis and the others, (Yes, I'm a trial lawyer by trade).

The other sources Snyder relied upon with reference to the Justices of the Supreme Court's views of the case make clear the written briefs, which Goldberg had little to do with, had persuaded the justices who voted for Flood's position. Goldberg's oral argument was not a good one--and again, there was a lack of preparation that is also not denied by his grandson.

My father, a retired lawyer, and I have always held Arthur Goldberg in high esteem. I still think the US was a poorer nation with the loss of Goldberg from that august bench. Yes, Snyder's book could have found some room to say that Goldberg was important in crafting Resolution 242 at the UN and may have been too harsh IF he said Goldberg's tenure at the UN was a "failure." But again, Goldberg's performance in the Flood case was a disaster no matter which way you try to spin it.

The greatest irony is that had Goldberg remained on the Supreme Court, he would surely have supported Flood, and might have been the difference for Flood.

Synder's book is, overall, fabulous and a great read--with lots of information and analysis that really opened my eyes to a lot of issues surrounding the Flood lawsuit and the times in which Flood lived. If anyone wants to read a book about baseball and American society, "A Well Paid Slave" is the place to start. It is an important achivement and should be recognized as such.

I edited this review on September 26, 2007 to fix some typos/grammar errors. I also wish to be clear that I intended to rate this book as having 5 stars, but the editing process won't let me change it. It is one of the best sports bios I've read in a long time, probably since the Vince Lombardi bio by Maraniss and the Jackie Robinson bio by Rampersad.