Most of you do not know Curt Flood. He is the man who emancipated Major League Baseball players out of slavery. Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth Lou Gehrig were basically slaves to their team. The same with Jackie Robinson, Satchell Page, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roy Campanella, Larry Doby, Bob Gibson. No matter your race. No matter your religion. If you played baseball in the major leagues. The team you played for owned you until they decided to trade you or release you. They had no bargaining rights. They were not allowed to have agents.
It was 1968 Curt Flood was a member of the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals when he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. But Flood refused to go to the Phillies and sued to be released from the Cardinals and the Phillies. In doing so he was challenging Baseballs ‘Reserve Clause’. A clause that stated ‘If a person played for a team. That person must play for that same team next season. The player was never free to make a decision for himself on where he wanted to play. He was basically enslaved to that team until they no longer wanted him.
As inhuman as this sounds. The so-called fans often sided with the owners/team against the player. Even though the ‘fan’ is the consumer and not the proprietor of the team. They see the team as ‘their’ team. t is a strange symmetry. For it is the workers of America, the fan, that support the team. But given the choice between the two. They would side with the corporation and not their fellow worker. To add injury to insult. Most fans like the player only when they were with ‘their’ team. Fans often turned on players when they were, not by their own designed, traded to another team. This is what happened to Curt Flood. Fans turned on him with more anger than the owners of MLB. He was broken and ostracized. It financially behooves the owners of franchises to insist on loyalty. They reap the benefits. The fan reaps nothing.
In 2020 Tom Brady relocated to Tampa Bay after being pushed out the door by the team he had played for 20 years. When he was, many of the fans that had watched him excel, relocated also. Thus creating an unprecedented new phenomena. One of ‘player loyalty’. Michael Jordan had the chance to explore it first. When the Chicago Bulls forced him out the door. Jordan was beloved and adored by millions who were not native Chicagoans of Illinoisans. But he chose to retire. When he did return to basketball he was not the same player and the moment was lost. Brady is still playing as good if not better than he ever did. With the millions that already loved him. He has attracted millions more with his move to Tampa Bay. No longer does a team own its fans. They are now free to go with the player who has played and shown love for them. Curt Flood’s decision resulted in the emancipation of every player in professional team sports in America. Tom Brady’s decision has resulted not only in the emancipation of the fan. But the bonding of two across financially constructed borders. Something that should have happened long ago.