Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The baseball newsletter that slides into your inbox like Rickey Henderson.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about the worst rule in baseball history and the man who sacrificed his career to get it abolished.

Without a doubt, the Reserve Clause was one of the worst rules baseball ever created.

To grasp the concept, let's cover a few basics.

In baseball, like in every other professional sport, players sign contracts with teams that outline the terms and conditions under which a player will play for a specific organization.

Those contracts include details such as the length of the contract, salary, and other provisions.

Typically after three years of service, a player is eligible for salary arbitration - after six years, they’re eligible for free agency.

But for about 100 years, these opportunities did not exist for professional ballplayers.

“The Reserve Clause” was standard in every baseball player’s contract prior to the 70’s.

It gave the team exclusive rights to the player's services, even after the contract expired.

Essentially, it allowed the team to retain the player indefinitely by "reserving" their services for future seasons.

In other words, players were the property of the team that signed them and basically had no leverage in future negotiations.

So just as an example…

Let's say a player signed a contract with a team for three years.

When those three years were up, instead of becoming a free agent and being able to sign with any team, the Reserve Clause kicked in.

The team had the power to renew the contract for another year without the player's consent.

So the players were completely handcuffed in terms of exploring offers from other teams or negotiating better terms when their contract was up.

This lack of mobility and control over their careers was a significant disadvantage - they were basically at the mercy of the team's decisions.

Naturally, as time went on, some players started questioning the fairness of the Reserve Clause - they believed it infringed upon their rights and limited their earning potential.

One player who took a stand was Curt Flood, an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Flood batted .293, made three-time All-Star, teams, and won seven Gold Gloves in a row while playing with the Cardinals from 1963-1969.

In ‘69, he refused to be traded to another team, challenging the legality of the Reserve Clause in court.

"I do not regard myself as a piece of property to be bought or sold," he famously told Commissioner Bowie Kuhn.

Kuhn and Major League Baseball pushed back against Flood and the two parties took the case all the way to the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get much support from his teammates and colleagues.

On the day he testified, only two former players, Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg, stood by him.

Ultimately, the decision on the case was announced in 1972, and Flood lost 5-3.

The interesting part is, that decision was reached only after Judge Lewis Powell, who was sympathetic to Flood, withdrew from the case because of what he called “a conflict of interest.”

Powell owned stock in Anheuser-Busch, whose principal owner, Augie Busch, owned the St. Louis Cardinals.

If Powell had still been on board, Flood might’ve won the decision, but the last minute change in Judges killed his case.

The court actually agreed that Flood should have the right be a free agent, but that the issue was that baseball's antitrust exemption could be removed by an act of Congress.

The court suggested that free agency for players should be attained through collective bargaining - which is exactly what ended up happening.

After the Supreme Court decision, Flood was inundated with hate mail from fans who accused him of “trying to destroy baseball.”

His teammate, Bob Gibson, said "He got four or five death threats a day."

And of course, his career was pretty much over as well.

He played 13 more games in the big leagues during the ‘71 season, and that was it.

But it wasn’t in vain.

Flood's suit put a lot of pressure on the MLB team owners, which allowed Marvin Miller and the union to bargain for binding arbitration on grievances.

Then, in 1975, Andy Messersmith, of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Dave McNally, of the Montreal Expos, came forward to challenge the clause.

They simply refused to sign their contracts.

Each of their respective teams renewed the players for one year and when that year ended, both players claimed they were free agents.

The owners disagreed.

They took it to arbitration, and the independent arbitrator at the time, Peter Seitz, had to decide between two competing claims - he sided with the players.

The owners fired Seitz, but it did nothing to change the decision - that was the beginning of free agency.

Salaries and league profits skyrocketed.

Turns out, the fans loved free agency, and the excitement from their team acquiring new talent.

The abolishment of the Reserve Clause transformed the landscape of pro baseball, empowered the players, and shaped the game we know and love today.

In 1992, Curt Flood was given the NAACP Jackie Robinson Award for contributions to black athletes.

Then almost 25 years after he sued Major League Baseball, his life’s work came full circle.

In ‘94, he gave an epic speech on solidarity to the players as they prepared to go on strike.

They gave him a standing ovation.

STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM

Back in ‘07, Ryan Vesler started Homage in his parents’ basement.

The idea was to make clothing that transports people back in time and connects us through those shared experiences.

They’re inspired by sports, movies, pop culture and anything else that’s considered iconic.

And these days, Ryan and his team have partnerships with everyone you can think of: MLB, NBA, NFL, WWE, and more.

Here’s a few things I’m eyeballing right now for myself:

If you like any of those here are the quick links:

• Dunder Mifflin

• MTV Checkered Logo

• Topps 1981

• Anchorman: Kind of a Big Deal

• Happy Gilmore: Just Tap It In

• ‘98 Devil Rays

• Ted Lasso Photo

• Topps Baseball: The Real One

• Comiskey Park: Baseball Palace of the World

Everything on the site is 20-40% this weekend - no code needed.

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

Flint made his Major-League debut at the age of 19 with the St. Louis Red Stockings.

After that, he played almost all of his 13-year career with the Chicago White Stockings.

In 1879, during his first year playing for the team, Silver split time managing the team with Cap Anson, but Anson proved to be a much better manager.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

• The Jeep: Joe Carter and Dave Winfield pull an epic prank on a Blue Jay’s Rookie

• The Tarp: A freak accident causes Vince Coleman to miss the World Series

• The Wet T-Shirt Promo: When the Braves would do anything to get fans to the ballpark

That's it for today. Tomorrow we're back at it like a bad habit. See ya!

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