RetroSimba

(Updated May 10, 2020)

Five baseball facts that may surprise you about Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood:

No. 1: Cardinals foe

Flood made his major-league debut against the Cardinals.

On Sept. 9, 1956, at St. Louis, Flood, 18, was a pinch-runner for Smoky Burgess, the stocky Reds catcher who hit a double in the eighth inning off Cardinals starter Murry Dickson.

Flood was stranded when Bob Thurman popped out to third, ending the inning. Boxscore

As a September call-up, Flood played in five games for the 1956 Reds and three games for the 1957 Reds. The Cardinals were the opponent in three of those eight games.

Flood and outfielder Joe Taylor were traded by the Reds to the Cardinals for pitchers Willard Schmidt, Ted Wieand and Marty Kutyna on Dec. 5, 1957.

It was the first trade made by Cardinals general manager Bing Devine and it was one of his best. Devine credited Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson with encouraging him to make the deal.

In his book “October 1964,” author David Halberstam wrote, “Devine was uneasy because it was his first deal and because he had not only never seen (Flood) but he had no sense of him either. But Hutch seemed confident of Flood’s ability and Devine had a good deal of faith in Hutchinson’s ability to judge talent.”

No. 2: Cardinals infielder

Flood, who won seven consecutive Gold Glove awards as a Cardinals center fielder from 1963-69, played two games at third base and one at second base for St. Louis.

In all three instances, Flood shifted from the outfield to the infield late in games. The breakdown:

_ On July 6, 1958, Flood started in center field against the Giants at San Francisco. In the ninth, Ken Boyer moved from third base to shortstop and Flood replaced Boyer at third. Flood didn’t field any chances in the inning. Boxscore

_ On May 10, 1959, at St. Louis against the Cubs, Flood moved from center field to second base in the 10th, replacing Don Blasingame, who had been lifted for a pinch-runner the previous inning. Flood played two innings at second base and didn’t field any chances. Boxscore

_ On June 21, 1960, Flood started in center field versus the Pirates at Pittsburgh. In the eighth, Boyer was ejected and Flood replaced him at third base. Flood had one ball hit to him at third _ by Burgess, then with the Pirates _ and fielded it cleanly. Boxscore

No. 3: Tough and durable

At 5 feet 9 and 165 pounds, Flood was an iron man. He played in 150 or more games in a season seven times.

Flood ranks seventh all-time in games played as a Cardinal. Five of the six in front of him have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The top seven in games played for the Cardinals: Stan Musial (3,026), Lou Brock (2,289), Ozzie Smith (1,990), Yadier Molina (1,983), Enos Slaughter (1,820), Red Schoendienst (1,795) and Flood (1,738).

In a 2015 interview with Fox Sports Midwest, Cardinals broadcaster and former third baseman Mike Shannon said, “The thing that interested me the most about Curt Flood is the way he could concentrate.”

No. 4: Hit man

Flood ranks among the top five all-time in most singles by a Cardinal. Musial heads the list, with 2,253 singles, and is followed by Brock (2,029), Ozzie Smith (1,529), Schoendienst (1,498), Flood (1,454) and Molina (1,421).

No. 5: Hitting the best

Flood often was at his best when facing the best.

Here are his career batting marks against some Hall of Fame pitchers:

_ .394 (13-for-33) vs. Don Sutton.

_ .326 (29-for-89) with a home run vs. Warren Spahn.

_ .319 (44-for-138) with two home runs vs. Don Drysdale.

_ .296 (32-for-108) with two home runs vs. Sandy Koufax.

_ .286 (34-for-119) with four home runs vs. Juan Marichal.

_ .286 (14-for-49) with two home runs vs. Ferguson Jenkins.

On May 3, 1968, at San Francisco, Flood hit two home runs in a game against Marichal. Flood hit a solo home run in the first and a two-run shot in the fifth. Boxscore

In the 2015 Fox Sports Midwest interview, Cardinals broadcaster and former catcher Tim McCarver called Flood “one of the more underrated players of our time.”

Postscript

Flood was an integral member of a Cardinals franchise that won two World Series championships and three National League pennants in the 1960s.

In 12 seasons with the Cardinals, Flood was a three-time all-star who hit .293 with 1,853 hits in 1,738 games, including two consecutive seasons (1963-64) with 200 or more hits.

When the Cardinals traded him to the Phillies after the 1969 season, Flood refused to report and instead challenged baseball’s reserve clause, paving the way for free agency.

Previously: The day Curt Flood drilled 8 straight hits vs. Dodgers