RetroSimba

(Updated June 18, 2020)

Center fielder Curt Flood wasn’t bluffing when he said he’d rather quit playing than accept a trade.

In October 1969, the Cardinals dealt Flood, catcher Tim McCarver, pitcher Joe Hoerner and outfielder Byron Browne to the Phillies for first baseman Richie Allen, pitcher Jerry Johnson and infielder Cookie Rojas.

“I wasn’t surprised to see Richie go to St. Louis,” Cardinals first baseman Bill White told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “but I was very surprised to see Flood leave St. Louis.”

When informed of the trade on the morning of Oct. 8, 1969, Flood, who had been with the Cardinals since 1957, turned to a companion and said, “There ain’t no way I’m going to pack up and move 12 years of my life away from here. No way at all.”

In his 1971 book, “The Way It is,” Flood said, “I took it personally. I felt unjustly cast out.”

Flood issued a statement to the media, saying he would retire and focus on being a portrait artist and operating a photo studio in St. Louis.

Baseball’s establishment didn’t take Flood’s intentions seriously, figuring the retirement plan was a ploy to get the Phillies to offer him an increase on his $90,000 yearly salary. Orioles scout Frank Lane, the former Cardinals general manager, told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Unless Curt Flood is better than Rembrandt, he’ll be playing for Philadelphia.”

Flood, though, was offended by baseball’s reserve clause, which bound a player to a team and deprived him of the right to determine where to work. He said baseball officials “were entirely incapable of understanding that a basic principle of human life was involved.”

Two months after the trade, Flood announced he would challenge the reserve clause in court. He lost his case, but his legal fight led to an arbitrator’s 1976 ruling establishing free agency.

Shakeup in St. Louis

Flood and McCarver were core players for the 1960s Cardinals, who won three National League pennants and two World Series titles. In October 1969, they were deemed expendable for different reasons.

Flood created hard feelings with Cardinals owner Gussie Busch in contract negotiations before the 1969 season. Flood wanted a $100,000 salary. “I would not consider taking even $99,999,” Flood told The Sporting News, and Busch viewed the ultimatum as disrespect. (Flood got $90,000 instead.) During spring training, the Cardinals offered to trade Flood and Orlando Cepeda to the Braves for Felipe Alou and Joe Torre, the Atlanta Constitution reported, but the Braves wouldn’t part with Alou and the clubs settled for a swap of Cepeda for Torre.

Though Flood hit .285 with 31 doubles in 1969 and won his seventh consecutive Gold Glove Award, the rift between he and Busch remained.

McCarver, who debuted with the Cardinals at age 17 in 1959, batted .260 with 27 doubles in 1969, but had trouble throwing out runners. McCarver allowed the most stolen bases, 64, of any National League catcher in 1969.

“There is nothing wrong with my arm,” McCarver said. “My technique got fouled up this season because I was pressing.”

St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports editor Bob Broeg noted, “If he can cut down wasted motion behind the plate and get the ball away more quickly, he might reduce the high rate of stolen bases charged against him.”

With catching prospect Ted Simmons waiting for playing time, the Cardinals were willing to part with McCarver.

In his 1994 book “Stranger to the Game,” Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson said, “I was sickened by the thought of Flood and McCarver leaving us. Those two guys struck right at the heart of what the Cardinals had been all about for the past decade. I loved the Cardinals, was proud to be one, and recognized that Curt Flood and Tim McCarver were two of the biggest reasons why. With them gone, being a Cardinal would never mean quite the same thing.”

Power outage

The 1969 Cardinals ranked 10th in the 12-team National League in runs scored _ ahead of only the expansion clubs, the Expos and Padres _ and last in home runs.

General manager Bing Devine was determined to acquire a run producer and targeted Allen, 27, who hit 32 home runs in 118 games for the 1969 Phillies.

The risk was Allen had a reputation as a malcontent. The Phillies suspended him for 29 games in 1969 after he failed to show for a June doubleheader.

Allen said Phillies officials “treat you like cattle” and he wanted out of Philadelphia.

In an editorial, the Philadelphia Inquirer was glad to see him go, saying, “If Richie Allen had been traded for the St. Louis bat boy, it would have been a fair exchange.”

Unfazed, Devine said, “We acquired him for hitting and power. The image of our club needed changing in that respect. We wanted someone who could help with runs and power production. Allen was the best available hitter of this type.”

Said Allen: “I’m not going to worry about hitting home runs. I won’t have to. All I can see right now is Lou Brock standing on second base after stealing about 60 or 70 bases.”

Right or wrong

Devine’s first trade after he became Cardinals general manager in 1957 was to acquire Flood from the Reds. Flood was 19 then and the notion of challenging baseball’s reserve clause “did not even occur to me,” he said in his book. “If it had, I would not have dared to act on it.”

Twelve years later, he was better positioned to oppose a trade.

“I refused to accept it,” Flood said. “It violated the logic and integrity of my existence. I was not a consignment of goods. I was a man, the rightful proprietor of my own person and my own talents.”

After Flood announced his intention to retire, he traveled to Denmark. Phillies general manager John Quinn contacted him by phone and got Flood to agree to defer a final decision until they had a chance to meet.

Phillies manager Frank Lucchesi said, “I’m sure once he gets over the shock of being traded, he’ll want to play.”

Flood and Quinn met in St. Louis and again in New York. Flood said the Phillies offered him a $100,000 salary for 1970, but he told Quinn, “It may be time for me to make my break with baseball.”

Changes in attitudes

On Dec. 24, 1969, Flood sent a letter to baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn, informing him he wanted to be declared free to negotiate with any team. Kuhn rejected the proposal, citing the reserve clause.

With the support of the players’ union, Flood announced on Dec. 29, 1969, he would file a lawsuit, challenging the reserve clause.

To make up for the loss of Flood, the Cardinals likely planned to send third baseman Mike Shannon to the Phillies to complete the deal. When a kidney ailment put Shannon’s playing career in jeopardy, the Phillies agreed instead to accept two prospects, Willie Montanez and Jim Browning.

Flood attempted a comeback with the Senators in 1971 but gave up after appearing in 13 regular-season games.

Years later, Flood said of his challenge to the reserve clause, “I look back on what I did as a contribution.”

Devine was among those whose perspectives were changed.

“The players had no control over their careers,” Devine said. “It’s opposed to what the Constitution stands for _ freedom.”

Flood “was a good person with strong beliefs and the character to act on them,” Devine concluded.