Very elusive one for the career run.

Curt Flood made a huge decision, one that reverberates to this day. He filed a civil lawsuit against Bowie Kuhn, MLB Commissioner, challenging pro baseball’s reserve clause. Even though he would lose the case and be blackballed from the Major Leagues, not only is there free agency today, but there’s also the Curt Flood Rule, that means any player who’s played for a team five straight years and in the MLB for a total of ten years has to give the team his consent in order to be traded.

1958 Topps #464 Curt Flood ⭐ RC
Curt Flood is widely regarded as both a great baseball player and a man of exceptional integrity and moral courage.

On the field, Flood was one of the finest defensive center fielders in baseball history, winning seven Gold Gloves, helping the Cardinals to two World Series championships.
Off the field, his legacy is even more profound: in 1969, he refused a trade and challenged Major League Baseball’s reserve clause, sacrificing the prime of his career to stand up for players’ rights and personal dignity.
He is remembered not only as an elite player, but as a principled man whose integrity, conscience, and willingness to risk everything for what he believed was right permanently improved baseball.

1958 Topps #464, Curt Flood RC ⭐
On December 5, 1957, the St. Louis Cardinals made one of their best trades ever, acquiring Curt Flood from the Cincinnati Reds in a five-player deal. Cardinals acquire outfielders Curt Flood and Joe Taylor from the Reds for pitchers Marty Kutyna and Ted Wieand.

The 19-year-old Flood, only appeared in eight games for Cincinnati over the previous two seasons, anchored the Cards outfield hitting .300 six times over the next 12 years and helped the Cards to the 1967 World Series Championship.

1958 Topps #464, Curt Flood RC.
Besides having a great first name, Curt Flood played a pivotal role in baseball’s labor movement by challenging the reserve clause in 1969, sacrificing his career to fight for players’ rights. His courage laid the groundwork for free agency, forever changing the balance of power between players and team owners.