Introducing Business History: The Man Who Sued Major League Baseball

Summary

Against the Rules: The Big Short Companion

Bonus: "Business History – The Man Who Sued Major League Baseball"

Host(s): Jacob Goldstein, Robert Smith
Release Date: December 19, 2025
Podcast Network: Pushkin Industries

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Episode Overview

In this episode, hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith introduce the new Pushkin podcast "Business History" by sharing one of its flagship stories: the saga of Curt Flood—the baseball superstar who challenged Major League Baseball’s reserve clause in the 1970s. This case, they argue, reframed public and legal understandings about labor, antitrust, and the business of sports, ultimately leading to the era of free agency. Flood’s fight—both a personal and systemic battle—changed professional sports economics, touched on broader labor struggles, and continues to echo today in discussions about worker rights and monopoly power.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Baseball as Big Business

• Baseball in the Late 1960s: The St. Louis Cardinals, led by stars like Curt Flood and owned by beer mogul Gussie Busch, are a top franchise (04:47).
• Economic Context: Despite being a top athlete, Flood earned $90,000 in 1969 (about $819,000 in 2025 dollars)—far less than today’s MLB stars, largely due to owner leverage (11:44).
• The Reserve Clause: Locked players to a team for their entire careers unless traded or released, giving team owners nearly total control (08:37).

2. The Systemic Problem: Lack of Player Freedom

• Labor vs. Capital: The reserve clause acted as a labor restraint, likened to feudalism: players were "tied not to a potato field, but to a baseball field" (09:20).
• Comparative Analogy: The hosts ask, “Imagine if Apple could sign the greatest computer science majors forever, and you couldn’t work elsewhere – that would be illegal everywhere except sports” (12:48).

3. Curt Flood's Defiance and the Civil Rights Underpinning

• The Trade to Philadelphia: Flood, a Black star, is traded to the Phillies, facing poor team prospects and a racist fanbase. He resists, stating, “I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold, irrespective of my wishes.” (29:05)
• Challenging the System: Flood consults Marvin Miller (players’ union head), who warns him, “It’s a million-to-one shot against you. … You are never going to work in baseball again. Not as a player, not as a coach. Like, you’re finished if you do this.” (21:56)
• Integration & Discrimination: Flood’s own career reflects baseball’s slow civil rights progress, facing segregation in the minors and discrimination even as a star (22:20).

4. Legal and Cultural Showdown

• Antitrust Legacy: Baseball, via Supreme Court precedent (Federal Baseball, 1922 and later cases), was exempted from antitrust law because the Court insisted it wasn’t “interstate commerce”—a ruling the hosts find increasingly absurd in the media era (17:22).
• Public Letters: Flood’s public letter to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn compared his treatment to being “property” (29:05). Kuhn replies, “I agree you are not a piece of property… However, I cannot see its applicability to the situation at hand.” (30:18)
• Flood’s Famous Retort: “A well-paid slave is nonetheless a slave.” (31:25)

5. The Courtroom Battle, Jackie Robinson, and Cultural Backlash

• Media and Public Skepticism: The media mocks Flood’s claim that he is oppressed for making $90,000/year. A newspaper snidely writes, “Boo hoo is what the public is saying” (32:23).
• Court Testimony: Flood’s case founders, and he is personally battered—out of baseball, drinking, receiving death threats (33:02).
• Heroic Support: Jackie Robinson—retired, nearly blind—testifies: “Anything that is one-sided in this country is wrong … [the reserve clause] should at least be modified to give a player an opportunity to have some control over his destiny.” (37:34)

6. Supreme Court Decision and Aftermath

• Legal Defeat but Shifting Vibes: The Supreme Court rules against Flood, citing precedent and Congress’s inaction, and calls baseball “an exception and an anomaly” (44:33).
• Public Sentiment Changes: The New York Times notes, “[The Supreme Court] is still averting its gaze from a system in American business that gives the employer outright ownership of his employees.” (49:27)
• Arbitration Workaround: Players’ union uses a technicality—the reserve clause’s ambiguous “one year” renewal—to create free agency via arbitration (50:35).
  • Dodgers pitcher Andy Messersmith becomes the first modern free agent, immediately tripling his salary (52:43).

7. The Broader Legacy: Power Shift and Modern Implications

• Compromise Model: The union and owners ultimately settle on a system where teams control players for their first six years, then free agency begins.
• Labor vs. Capital: Player revenue share rises from 25% (Flood’s era) to ~50% today (55:39).
• Contemporary Echoes:
  • Ongoing public debates about "overpaid" athletes, even as sports become vastly more lucrative (56:09).
  • Parallels to NCAA college-athlete battles and non-compete clauses in other industries (57:02, 58:29).
• Curt Flood’s Later Years: Exiled, then celebrated. In 1994, with MLB players striking, Flood is brought in to inspire the union: “Don’t let the owners put the genie back in the bottle.” (60:23)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Gussie Busch’s Pep Talk (Owner):
  “Too many fans are saying our players are getting fat, that they only think of money… less of the game itself.” – (06:45)

• Curt Flood (on his injustice):
  “He [Busch] was talking to the players like a rabble of ingrates.” – (07:33)
  “I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold, irrespective of my wishes.” – (29:05)
  “A well-paid slave is nonetheless a slave.” – (31:25)

• Jackie Robinson’s Testimony:
  “Anything that is one-sided in this country is wrong. And I think the reserve clause is a one-sided thing in favor of the owners.” – (37:34)

• Judicial Apathy (Supreme Court):
  “If there is any inconsistency or illogic in all this, it is an inconsistency and illogic of longstanding that is to be remedied by the Congress and not by this court.” – (44:33)

• Union’s Technical Triumph:
  “If a player gets to the end of his contract and refuses to sign, the club shall have the right to renew the contract for the period of one year.” – (50:51)

• Modern Parallels (Jacob Goldstein):
  “Today maybe the most kind of relevant contemporary version of this… is college athletes. …the players got a scholarship… and it just became ridiculous.” – (57:02)

• Curt Flood’s Final Pep Talk:
  “Don’t let the owners put the genie back in the bottle.” – (60:36)

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Major Timestamps

• 05:24: Introduction to Cardinals, Curt Flood, and Gussie Busch
• 08:37: Explanation of the reserve clause, "feudal" system analogy
• 11:44: Discussion of Curt Flood’s salary and context
• 15:20: Legal background: antitrust cases and baseball's odd exemption
• 21:56: Marvin Miller’s warning to Flood about personal sacrifice
• 29:05: Curt Flood’s historic letter to MLB Commissioner
• 31:25: Flood’s “well-paid slave” quote, public/media controversy
• 33:02: Curt Flood’s personal crises during the trial
• 37:34: Jackie Robinson testifies
• 44:33: Supreme Court's rationale and self-exemption
• 50:51: Union exploits reserve clause technicality, enables free agency
• 52:43: Messersmith becomes first big-money free agent
• 55:39: Labor’s revenue share doubles over time
• 57:02 – 58:29: Modern-day echoes—college sports and non-compete clauses
• 60:36: Flood’s enduring influence on labor activism in sports

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Tone and Style

• Conversational, lively, and steeped in history but accessible.
• Frequent banter and humor, e.g., “No joke, 360 ideas for episodes…” (04:01), light-hearted analogies to modern tech jobs.
• Emotionally resonant: empathizing with Flood’s struggle, significance of Robinson’s testimony, social context of race and protest.
• Deep research and direct quoting from legal documents, media, and major figures.

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Conclusion

This episode uses the Curt Flood story—his bold stand against baseball’s economic order—to explore how the business of sports mirrors larger tensions in American labor, law, and race relations. While the Supreme Court reaffirmed MLB’s exceptionalism, Flood and the players' union ultimately forced the balance of power to shift: introducing free agency, doubling the labor share of revenues, and setting off ripples that reach from pro athletes to coders and college stars today. Curt Flood’s courage, sacrifice, and message—“Don’t let the owners put the genie back in the bottle”—still inspire those fighting for worker rights across industries.

Transcript

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[Jacob Goldstein]

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[Jacob Goldstein]

Pushkin I'm Jacob Goldstein.

[Robert Smith]

And I'm Robert Smith and we are the hosts of Business History, a show. How would you describe it?

[Jacob Goldstein]

It's about the history of business.

[Robert Smith]

That's what it does.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Robert we have been making shows together elsewhere for more than a decade. We used to host Planet Money together and we both love a business story. We both love a history story and we are delighted to be making this show.

[Robert Smith]

We have no joke360 ideas for episodes. Everything from Babylon and Debt and the Romans to the Mongols to the story of BlackBerry and Southwest Airlines and Blockbuster.

[Jacob Goldstein]

We're coming out every week. Here's one episode. We hope you like it. If you do, you can find us where literally any place you get podcasts. Robert Smith Here we are again.

[Robert Smith]

Why do you do that narrative thing? You know, where you start with like a date and right in the middle.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Of the story, the date is 1968.

[Robert Smith]

Good.

[Jacob Goldstein]

One subject is baseball, specifically the St. Louis Cardinals. And 1968 was a good year for the St. Louis Cardinals. They went all the way to the World series, lost in seven games to the Tigers. And for 1969, for the next season, they were looking good. Their big stars were coming back. Crucially for our story. One of those returning stars was Curt Flooded. Sports Illustrated said he was the best center fielder in baseball. He was an all star. He was the co captain of the team. So things were looking good for the Cardinals going into that year. But the president of the team won. Augustus Anheuser Busch Jr.

[Robert Smith]

There was actually an Anheuser Busch. I love that.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes. And an Augustus Anheuser Busch Jr. Yes. AKA Gussie Busch, AKA heir to the Budweiser fortune. He was the president of the team and he was worried. He did not like, the way things were going. He ran Anheuser Busch, and he had convinced the company back in the 50s to buy the Cardinals. And he built the Cardinals into this World Series champion in the 60s. So now we're in the late 60s. He's getting worried. He actually goes down to spring training, down to Florida at the start of the 69 season, to tell the players what he thought was wrong, what he thought they were doing wrong.

[Robert Smith]

They love that.

[Jacob Goldstein]

They love it when he comes to talk to them. Oh, thank you, Gussie Bush. And interestingly, it wasn't their play that he was worried about. It wasn't what they were doing on the field. It was what they and their union had been doing off the field in the off season. And specifically, they'd been negotiating for a higher share of baseball's TV revenues. And Gussie Bush, businessman, did not like the way this looked. So he gave this talk, and he actually invited the press in to hear him give this sort of lecture to the players. And the next day was on the front page of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Robert, why don't you give us Gussie Bush's key quote?

[Robert Smith]

All right. He said, too many fans are saying our players are getting fat, that they only think of money. That and less of the game itself. Oh, those businessmen always go back to the love of the game. That's why we pay you so little. The love of the game.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah. So, you know, the players at the time didn't say much. They actually asked Curt Flood in this newspaper story for a comment. He's like, the big boss has spoken. I'm not going to comment. But he wrote a book a few years later and said, unsurprisingly that he didn't like this speech. He said in particular that Gussie Bush was talking to the players like a rabble of ingrates. And at this moment, this rift was opening up between Kurt Flood, one of the key stars on the team, and Gussie Bush, the owner of the team. And over the course of the 69 season, the rift gets wider. And then at 4am on October 8th of that year, Curt Flood gets a phone call, gets woken up by a phone call, and he rolls over and picks up the phone. And calling him is a guy who works for Gussie Bush.

[Robert Smith]

Gussie didn't even make the call himself.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Gussie didn't even make the call himself. No, it was one of his underlings. It was a middle manager, basically. And what the guy on the phone says to Curt flood is, after 12 years playing in St. Louis, basically all of his adult life, Flood is getting traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.

[Robert Smith]

Philly is the punishment.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Philly is the punishment. Yeah. And it really did seem like that to Curt Flood, because, I mean, a. Philly had just finished second to last in their division. And on top of that, Curt Flood was black. And the Phillies fans had a tradition of treating the team's own black players really badly. Like one star outfielder in the 60s for the Phillies who was black, actually started wearing a helmet because the Phillies own fans threw stuff at him so much. Right.

[Robert Smith]

So he doesn't want to be with the losers who also hate him.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes, well said. But the way baseball worked at the time, he didn't have a choice, because the rule was when you got drafted by a major league team, you played for that team forever or until they decided to trade you. And if you didn't want to go, you could quit baseball. This was actually explicit in every player's contract. They called it the reserve clause because the teams were reserved the rights to each player. And Flood, actually, when he was writing later about that Gussie Bush speech in the locker room, he used the word feudal. Feudal. To describe this system like Eudal, not utile.

[Robert Smith]

Yeah, yeah. In other words, it was like the system where peasants were tied to the land. They could not move. They had to give part of their crops to the feudal lord.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes. Right. And in this metaphor, the feudal lord is Gussie Bush, and the players are tied not to, like, a potato field, but to a baseball field. Right. Of course, it seems much more appealing to be a professional baseball player than a medieval serf. But on a fundamental level, Curt Flood thought this was unfair, unjust.

[Robert Smith]

There's a reason for this and a reason why it existed for years, which is people thought that it kept the game competitive. It kept the richest teams from just buying the best players and then winning all the games. And that's no fun.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes. Yes. Right. If you had just a wide open free market, it might, in fact, destroy the game. But still. But still, Curt Flood thought that the essence of this rule, this idea that you had to be tied forever to the whims of whatever team happened to draft you, was unfair and that surely there would be a more fair way to structure the game. And so he decided to fight. He decided to try and change the rules. His fight wound up going all the way to the Supreme Court. It helped change the business of professional sports forever. And it also, at least for a while, destroyed Curt Flood's life. I'm Jacob Goldstein.

[Robert Smith]

I'm Robert Smith. And this Is Business History a show about the history of business. I love the story of Curt Flood and the reserve Clause because it's about more than sports. It is about this classic division between capital and labor, the money interests and the workers. Every business has this dilemma of who should share in the profits. And this goes to every single corporation in America, this decision about who shares in the riches. Right. So this is a story about that. It's about antitrust, it's about competition, and it's a story about when people stop thinking of this professional sports as just a game and more as what it is. Big business.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Really big business. Okay, so 1969, that's the moment we're talking about. Right. That's the season that started with that lecture from Gussie Bush. In that season, Curt Flood was one of the highest paid players in baseball. He made $90,000. Robert Smith, how much is that in 20? $25.

[Robert Smith]

$2 billion.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes.

[Robert Smith]

2 billion.

[Jacob Goldstein]

No, according.

[Robert Smith]

Richest man ever. Yes. No.

[Jacob Goldstein]

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI inflation calculator, which I love, it was $819,000. So about $800,000.

[Robert Smith]

Pretty good. So a lot of money compared to other workers, but not what professional baseball players, especially very good ones, are making today.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Exactly. Right. So is it a lot or a little? Well, by today's standards, it's trivial.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Right.

[Jacob Goldstein]

A star would make literally, whatever, I don't know, what, 20 times that today, something. Right. And so there's a couple reasons for that. Why is his pace so much lower than what contemporary players make? Reason one is Major League Baseball is just a much bigger business today after adjusting for inflation, the pie is bigger. But reason two is the players at the time had much less leverage. Right. If you have to play for the team that drafted you or quit baseball, there's not that much you can do to demand a higher salary. Right. So players were in fact getting a smaller share of a smaller pie, which.

[Robert Smith]

If you think about it, is wild. Like, think about any other industry. Tech, Google and Apple. I mean, imagine they could sign the greatest computer science majors at Stanford and MIT and sign them to a contract forever. Like, I'm sorry, you're on Team Apple. You are on Team Apple. I can trade you to team IBM. But no, you're on Team Apple. And under that situation, they are certainly not going to pay them a lot of money. They'll pay them some money, but like you don't have.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Why would they pay the market rate when they don't have to.

[Robert Smith]

Yeah. When they could keep them forever? And obviously If Apple did this, it would be illegal.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And in fact, Apple did do it. What, about 10 years ago or something, there was this major scandal where a few big tech companies had this rule among each other, like CEO to CEO, where they wouldn't try and recruit each other's employees. And when it was made public, they got in trouble. They had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars because it's a violation of antitrust law. You can't do that.

[Robert Smith]

It's anti competitive.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah, but in baseball in 1969, that was how it worked. That's what the reserve clause was. And Curt Flood thought that was ridiculous. Right. He thought he was a worker who, just like any other worker, should be able to go work for any company that would hire him. And so when he heard that he was going to be traded to the Phillies, he thought, maybe I should just sue baseball. Maybe it is illegal. Right. Maybe I should go to court and fight the reserve clause. To figure out whether he should do this, he flies to New York City to talk about this idea of suing baseball with a guy who is the head of the players union. This is an interesting guy. His name's Marvin Miller. Grew up in Flatbush in Brooklyn, rooting for the Dodgers. Yeah. Ebbets Field, was in the steelworkers union. Worked his way up there. And just in the past years, just in the 1960s, has turned the Players association into like a full fledged labor union, like a real union. And so Miller is actually part of what Gussie Bush was talking about in that lecture. In fact, one of his employees, one of the other senior guys at the team in that same locker room speech, complained about Miller by name. Right. So he's part of what's going on here. So Miller takes Flood out to breakfast in New York at the Summit Hotel in Manhattan. And over breakfast, he lays out the legal landscape because he's been thinking about this too. And there is precedent here. In fact, there have been two earlier cases that are relevant that have gone all the way to the Supreme Court.

[Robert Smith]

And the cases were brought under the Sherman antitrust Act of 1890. The classic right. This is the key law for regulating competition in America. And this law banned, I'll read it, every contract, combination or conspiracy that restricted trade or commerce or among the several states.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And so that last phrase there, among the several states, this is because the.

[Robert Smith]

Constitution says the federal government can only regulate interstate commerce. Right?

[Jacob Goldstein]

Right.

[Robert Smith]

So if there's any sort of business that goes across state lines, the Sherman Antitrust act says you cannot collude, you.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Know, yes, and, and I'm belaboring that phrase and that, that interstate commerce, because it actually turns out to be key here. The first relevant case got to the Supreme Court in 1922. And what had happened at the time. Interesting business story, actually. There were two different professional baseball leagues sort of competing against each other at the time. There's Major League Baseball, which we know today, and then there was also the Federal Baseball League. Sounds funny to say RIP Federal Baseball League. And what happened was classic Monopoly play, actually. The Major League Baseball owners were buying up Federal Baseball League teams to sort of bring them into the Major League. So they were essentially using buyouts to eliminate their competition. Yeah, right. Sounds anti competitive. Classic thing you're not supposed to do. And so this case goes all the way to the Supreme Court. And in fact, Oliver Wendell Holmes, one of the most famous justices, I would say, ever.

[Robert Smith]

Right.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Writes the decision. And what he says is the business of baseball is selling tickets to the game. Right. Teams may travel from state to state.

[Robert Smith]

Yeah.

[Jacob Goldstein]

The.

[Robert Smith]

The entire league comprises several states.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah, but, but how do they make money? They make money when people walk up to the ballpark, pay their money for a ticket and go in. And that is not interstate commerce.

[Robert Smith]

The money doesn't cross state lines.

[Jacob Goldstein]

The money isn't crossing state lines. Well said. And as a result, the Sherman Antitrust act doesn't apply and go away. There is no problem here. Okay, so that is case number one. Case number two comes about 30 years later in the early 1950s, and this case is actually much more similar to the case Curt Flood is thinking about bringing. In this instance, there's a minor league player. He's like a AAA player for the, for the Yankees, you know, farm system. And he basically says, I should have the right to go play for another team. I'm gonna sue baseball.

[Robert Smith]

And by this point, by the 1950s, the technology has changed, the game has changed in that you can listen to it on radio. And that is a big part of the business. No matter where your team goes, you can sit back in Brooklyn, listen to your beloved Dodgers on the radio. And that's part of, you know, a bigger radio contract, which in theory crosses state lines.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes, yes. And TV also by this point. And so, yeah, fundamentally technological change has driven a change to the business. Right. Like Oliver Wendell Holmes thing was just like, just look at the money, Just follow the money. It's not interstate commerce by this time. It obviously is. Right. And there's actually a fun moment in the transition where in the 30s, when radio is first coming in baseball teams, like, especially in New York City, they. They block radio for a while because they are thinking like, oh, our business is selling tickets. And if people can just sit at home and listen on the radio, they're not going to come buy a ticket. We don't want it on the radio.

[Robert Smith]

They're not buying Cracker Jack.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah, that's right. And so they ultimately realize, of course, like, oh, we can sell the rights to the game and make a lot more money and people will still come. So by the 50s, by the time this case goes to the Supreme Court, it's clearly interstate commerce.

[Robert Smith]

Absolutely.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And yet, and yet a majority of the justices in the case call Back to that 1922 opinion, delightfully called Federal Baseball, in short, and they say, you know, sorry, decisis, we don't want to overturn past Supreme Court rulings. And if there's a problem here, Congress can just pass a law that says antitrust law. Oh, yeah, it applies to baseball. And you know what? We're gonna stay out of it. It's fine. The reserve clause is gonna stay in place. So, you know, the player lost, the league won, no change.

[Robert Smith]

And to be fair, I mean, there is something to the court's decision and the owner's stance here, because professional sports, baseball is a different kind of business. Right. The teams are competing on the field against each other, but they're not really competing against each other economically. Yeah, right, they are. They need to collude, in fact.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Right.

[Robert Smith]

To say, like, hey, at 2 o', clock, 3 o', clock, like, where should we play? And you could think of the chaos that would happen if there was true competition, economic competition in baseball. I mean, you could, you could buy all the other team's players. You could do it halfway through the game. You could be like, I'm buying, I'm buying your best picture.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And to go back to your thing of, like, how baseball is different from other businesses, right. Like each team has a separate owner, so in a way, it's its own business. But if it was a regular business, you would want to put all the other teams out of business. You'd want to destroy them.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Right.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And so.

[Robert Smith]

And the Yankees would. But then they would find that there's nobody to play against.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Right, right. Or even more narrowly, Right. If you just had a free market in labor, if the richest owner could buy all the best players, they would. And then they would win every game by a blowout, and that would suck.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Right.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Like a sport where one team wins every game by a blowout is a Bad sport and nobody wants to watch it. And so at some level, you do need some check on a free market in labor, in baseball or in sports.

[Robert Smith]

You're telling me America's pastime is anti competitive and anti free market?

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes, yes, yes. All right, usa. But only to some extent, right? Like we know now, we know today, it is much more competitive and much more free market than it was in Curt Flood's time. And also true of football and basketball, as we'll talk about, and yet still competitive.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Right?

[Jacob Goldstein]

So it is a question of balance. And at this time, as Marvin Miller is explaining to Curt Flood over breakfast, the courts have been all on the side of the leagues and the owners.

[Robert Smith]

Curt Flood probably hasn't looked at Supreme Court precedent at this point. He's just like, it's unfair. It feels unfair. Now let's make this happen.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah. And Marvin Miller, the union guy, is like, it's a million to one shot against you. And by the way, even if you do happen to win your case, you're not going to get damages. Nobody's going to be like, oh, this poor guy who's making the equivalent of $800,000 for playing baseball, we're going to give him more money. So you're not going to get personal damages.

[Robert Smith]

And people aren't going to be bidding for you because you're a troublemaker.

[Jacob Goldstein]

You are never going to work in baseball again. Not as a player, not as a coach. Like, you're finished if you do this. And, you know, Curt Flood has been through a lot at this point. I think it's worth talking about here. Like, you know, he came up in the minor leagues in the 1950s, just a few years after Jackie Robinson became the first black professional baseball player. When Flood was in the minor leagues, he was playing in the south mostly. And so, you know, he would have to wait on the bus while his white teammates went into a restaurant. One time, the. The trainer of his own team yelled at him for putting his uniform in the laundry with the white players. The trainer actually, like, fished it out with a stick and sent it off to the black laundry. Even once Curt Flood made the majors, he was a major league baseball player. He rented a house, and when the landlord found out he was black, he said, you can't rent this house and I'm going to block the door with a shotgun. And Curt Flood actually sued that guy for the right to just live in the house that he had rented as a major league baseball player.

[Robert Smith]

So Curt Flood's seen the civil rights era come, not just in theory. But in his own life in baseball, he's like, lived through all of these changes.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah. And so Marvin Miller lays all of this out for Curt Flood. And Curt Flood says, okay, but for all of that, if I do win, will it help? You know, will it help other players? And Marvin Miller says, yeah, it will. And Curt Flood says, okay, let's do it. So they decide to sue baseball.

[Robert Smith]

We'll be back in just a minute.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

In today's super competitive business environment, the edge goes to those who push harder, move faster, and level up every tool in their arsenal. T Mobile knows all about that. They're now the best network, according to the experts at OOKLA Speed Test. And they're using that network to launch Super Mobile, the first and only business plan to combine intelligent performance, built in security and seamless satellite coverage. With Super Mobile, your performance, security and coverage are supercharged. With a network that adapts in real time, you your business stays operating at peak capacity even in times of high demand. With built in security on the first nationwide 5G advanced network, you keep private data private for you, your team, your clients. And with seamless coverage from the world's largest satellite to mobile constellation, your whole team can text and stay updated even when they're off the grid. That's your business supercharged. Learn [e-mail] seamless coverage with compatible devices in most outdoor areas in the US where you can see the sky. Best business plan based on a combination of advanced network performance, coverage layers and security features. Best Network based on analysis by Ookla of Speedtest Intelligence Data 1H 2025 support.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

For the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member Finra SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures [e-mail] disclosures.

[Robert Smith]

And Doug, what a horrible call.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Hey, ref, Open your eyes. Ref. You're really not gonna call that? Come on.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Hey, ref, why didn't you customize your.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Car insurance with Liberty Mutual?

[Ad/Promo Voice]

And save money.

[Robert Smith]

I don't think you get what we're doing.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Sure I do.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

We're all just giving him advice. You guys on sports, me on saving money.

[Robert Smith]

Nope, that's not it.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.

[Podcast Announcer]

Every holiday shopper's got a list. But Ross shoppers, You've got a mission like a gift run that turns into a disco snow globe, throw pillows and PJs for the whole family, dog included. At Ross, holiday magic isn't about spending more. It's about giving more for less. Ross, work your magic.

[Robert Smith]

And we're back with the story of Curt Flood. So how do you litigate this case? Right. There have been these two precedents against this concept. Clearly, the Supreme Court, of all the things they have to deal with, does not want to deal with America's pastime.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah. So? Well, the first thing is you find a good lawyer who knows his way around the Supreme Court, and the union finds what seems like a great lawyer for Flood, a guy named Arthur Goldberg, who had, in fact, been a Supreme Court justice.

[Robert Smith]

Wait, you could just hire Supreme Court justices.

[Jacob Goldstein]

So this part is actually shocking to me. He had stepped down from the Supreme Court to be the ambassador to the UN which, like today, would never happen. So, like, either the Supreme Court was less of a big deal then, or the UN Was more of a big deal, or both. I don't know, but it's weird.

[Robert Smith]

I mean, he got to live in New York City. True.

[Jacob Goldstein]

That's how much better New York is than D.C. so this guy, Arthur Goldberg says he'll take the case. He just wants the union to pay his expenses. He believes in it. And he and Flood decide to start because precedent is so clearly stacked against them, they're going to fight the case in what every reporter loves to call the court of public opinion. They're going to take the case to the people to try and convince America that the reserve clause is wrong. And so their first move is to send a letter to the commissioner of Major League Baseball, one Bowie Kuhn. And it's a public letter. So, Robert, as our designated reader, Read us an excerpt from the letter.

[Robert Smith]

Dear Mr. Kuhn and the millions of people we've published this to, who can also read it. Dear Mr. Kuhn, after 12 years in the major leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold, irrespective of my wishes. I believe that any system that produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States and of the several states. Well put.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes. And so, I mean, I'm just gonna repeat, a piece of property to be bought and sold. Right, like, he's clearly invoking slavery here. So then he goes on in this letter, right? And he makes his request to Cuny. He says, I want to be free to talk to other teams about playing for them. And then. Can you just read the last line of the letter?

[Robert Smith]

I therefore request that you make known to all the major league clubs my feelings in this matter and advise them of my availability for the 1970 season. Hire me, pay me money. Sincerely yours. That part's me. Sincerely yours, Curt Flood.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And so the commissioner gets the letter. And a week later, and what is frankly a classy move, the commissioner calls Flood at home and reads Flood. His. The commissioner's response to Flood's letter. It says, in part, Robert.

[Robert Smith]

Dear Kurt, I certainly agree with you that you as a human being are not a piece of property to be bought and sold. This is fundamental in our society and I think obvious. However, I cannot see its applicability to the situation at hand. You have entered into a current playing contract. Under the circumstances and pending any further information from you, I don't see what action I can take and cannot comply with the request contained in the second paragraph of your letter. Sincerely yours, Bowie Bui K Keun.

[Jacob Goldstein]

So now you have this public debate, right?

[Robert Smith]

And he has a good point. You signed a contract. The reserve clause is in that contract, and you put your name to it.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes. So people are talking about this now. People are talking about the fact that Curt Flood is invoking slavery, comparing his status as a professional baseball player. Around this time, he does an interview with the most famous sportscaster in America. I think, in the second half of the 20th century. I would say Howard Cosell, really interesting figure in his own right. And in this interview, Cosell basically says, like Curt Flood, you're getting rich playing baseball. You know, how can you compare yourself to someone who is enslaved? And Flood says, a well paid slave is nonetheless a slave. And this is maybe his most famous quote, the biography, the sort of key Biography of Flood is in fact called A well Paid Slave. Like Brad Snyder is a very useful source for this show. So now this quote is out there.

[Robert Smith]

And this is very provocative at the time, because, you know, I was alive in the 70s and there was a feeling that in professional sports there was finally equality. That, you know, you could look around and say, yes, but some of our best athletes, our highest paid people in the United States are black men, mostly in professional sports. And there was a kind of, I guess, patting yourself on the back for saying, like, we have overcome a lot of these things that the civil rights movement had talked about in professional sports. And here's Curt Flood saying, no, no, you haven't.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And yeah, and kind of to your point, like, people do not like this argument that Curt Flood is making. Like, there's one sort of mocking article that runs in the paper under the headline, A Tear for Curt Flood. And it says, one is forced to admire Curt Flood. When a man is making only $90,000, which is 800,000, right? When a man is making only $90,000, he is forced to stand up and fight. Boo hoo. Yeah, boo hoo is what the public is saying. So it's not going well in the court of public opinion. And now it's time to try the case in the court of law.

[Robert Smith]

Here comes the judge.

[Jacob Goldstein]

It's 1970. The case goes to trial in Manhattan. And this too starts off badly for Curt Flood. His lawyer is now running for governor, so probably not putting in the time he should on the trial. And Curt Flood personally has been having a hard time. After he filed the suit, he basically stopped playing baseball. So he's suddenly gone from being this star who's on the field all the time, making lots of money, to being a guy who has always liked to drink martinis and now has too much time on his hands. And also he's getting death threats, like multiple, basically racist death threats every day because people are so angry that he is suing baseball.

[Robert Smith]

And remember, they're not angry because they care about the interstate commerce clause, Right?

[Jacob Goldstein]

It's not Sherman Antitrust act in their death threats.

[Robert Smith]

No, no, no, no, no. Because there's this whole cultural context just to remind everyone. It's 1970, right? The US is in the middle of this massive. Is tied to a real war, shooting war in Vietnam, right? You've got the Black Panthers, the Stonewall riots, the Weather Underground is blowing up stuff. You know, people talk about the division today in America, but, like, this was a scary, divisive time. People were taking Sides. And so Kurt Flood, talking about what is essentially, you know, a worker compensation issue, becomes one side of this fight. It becomes symbolic of this bigger split in America.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes. And that is. That is made explicit in the way this is talked about in public. Like, there is this publication, Baseball Digest, that actually had a cover story about this with the headline, kurt Flood an angry rebel. Of course, angry black man is like a classic trope. Right. It described him as in revolt against the baseball establishment.

[Robert Smith]

Baseball establishment. That's like saying you're in revolt against the United States of America.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah, I mean, people talked about the establishment at the time, and so they're casting Flood as taking sides in the culture war. And he knew this. He actually wrote about this a little bit later and said that the way he was portrayed was like a victory for him would mean this is the, quote. God profaned flag desecrated. Motherhood defiled. Apple pie blasphemed. Right. So he's like, knows what's going on, is kind of having fun with it.

[Robert Smith]

He just doesn't want to go to Philadelphia.

[Jacob Goldstein]

He just wants to be able to work for whatever company will hire him. So this is what's going on in his life. His trial is in court. He's having a hard time, personally. He gets called to testify, and he's clearly very nervous on the stand. He's talking in a really low voice. They keep having to ask him to speak up. And there is this particular exchange between the judge and Curt Flood that I think is really telling. Let's read it. Do you want to be the judge, or do you want to be Curt Flood?

[Robert Smith]

Judge, of course.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Okay.

[Robert Smith]

Now, Mr. Flood, I presume you are not finding this as easy as getting up at bat, is that right?

[Jacob Goldstein]

No, sir, it is not.

[Robert Smith]

I want you to remember, other people have problems, and now you are seeing that it is not an easy thing to testify.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Can you imagine that?

[Robert Smith]

He's basically saying, like, you are so spoiled. Your life is so easy. You're a rich baseball player. Well, guess what? Like, this is. This is the way the real world is. Like, welcome to it. It's not so easy. Yeah.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And the judge is, you know, clearly the establishment. And I don't want to project too much, but I do feel like here the judge is essentially saying, shut up and go play baseball, kid.

[Robert Smith]

It's our game. It's the one place we can go to not think about Vietnam and protests and politics, and you've ruined it.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And at this moment, what they can do is try and call some witness who will sort of play better than Curt Flood.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Right.

[Jacob Goldstein]

No current players want to testify because they're scared, because they can't choose who to work for. And they don't want to get Shadow banned from baseball. But you know who they get to testify? You know who agrees?

[Robert Smith]

The man everyone wants to see in New York City courtroom. Right? In New York.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah.

[Robert Smith]

Jackie Robinson.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Jackie Robinson, American hero. American hero, like actually get like mushy talking about Jackie Robinson. Right. The first black man to play in the major leagues in the face of like overwhelming racism at this point. He's retired, he's 51, he's actually going blind. He agrees to testify, comes into the courtroom in, you know, the same city where he played baseball in New York City. He takes the stand and Flood's lawyer asks him about the reserve clause. And Robert read his answer.

[Robert Smith]

Anything that is one sided in this country is wrong. And I think the reserve clause is a one sided thing in favor of the owners. And I think it certainly should at least be modified to give a player an opportunity to, to have some control over his destiny. Very measured.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Very measured. Very reasonable. Right.

[Robert Smith]

Also, which is why they brought him in. Right. They're like, this is not defiling motherhood. This is Jackie Robinson. And he's just like, we should be a little more fair.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes. He is a reasonable man and he is a national hero. Right. You know what's anti American being against Jackie Robinson?

[Robert Smith]

100%.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Even the judge. Even the judge asked Jackie Robinson for an autograph, says it's for his grandson. Is it? I don't know. And, you know, now after this testimony, people start to listen to the other side, to Curt Flood side coming from Jackie Robinson. The coverage gets better for Flood side gets less sarcastic. You know, the vibes are changing, as we would say today. But the judge is not in the vibes business. He doesn't care about vibes. He cares about precedent. And in this instance, the legal precedent is abundantly clear. There was basically, you know, a nearly identical case 20 years before the Supreme Court let the reserve clause stand. And so the judge rules against Curt Flood and in favor of Major League baseball. The reserve clause stands.

[Robert Smith]

They appeal. I take it they appeal.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Right. Flood's lawyer basically knew they were going to lose. He says this first case is just the end of the first inning. Little baseball metaphor. They lose on appeal, they appeal again, and the case goes to the Supreme Court.

[Robert Smith]

The World Series of courtrooms.

[Jacob Goldstein]

No, but also. Yes, yes, yes. One fun detail about the case. One of the Supreme Court justices recuses himself because he owns stock in Anheuser Busch, which is run by Gussie Busch and which owns the Cardinals. I GUESS There are eight justices there for oral arguments on March 20, 1972. The courtroom is packed. Press box is overflowing. People are spilling out, you know, I guess onto the courthouse steps or whatever. One person not in attendance.

[Robert Smith]

Kurt Flood.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Kurt Flood. He is living in Majorca, working part time as a sports announcer for an English language radio station. Also working in a bar part time.

[Robert Smith]

And this is just a few years after he is one of the top talents in baseball.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes, yes. And he's drinking a lot. Like, I think the core thing is he's drinking too much. And the case has just been overwhelming for him. So he's there, but, you know, we're going to do the trial now. Oh, yay. Oh, yay. Gather near. It starts with Curt Flood's lawyer, Sky Goldberg. He lays out the case. You know, Major League Baseball is obviously interstate commerce at this point.

[Robert Smith]

So the first precedent we can throw that out.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Radio and TV are broadcast nationally. Plainly, federal antitrust law should apply. And under federal antitrust law, the reserve clause is illegal. And, you know, maybe we should mention this here. There's a fun detail that we haven't talked about yet, and that is this. Like, usually when we think about competition, we think about Monopoly. There's only one seller of something. But this case is actually Monopoly's lesser known cousin, monopsony. Monopsony, which is.

[Robert Smith]

Which means there is only one buyer for a product and many suppliers. And this is most commonly used when it comes to the labor market. We don't think about it, but as workers, we sell our services every day. And if there's only one employer in an industry or a region, that person has monopsony power, meaning they can keep wages down. They can not hire you, they could fire you. Monopsony power.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes. And that is also covered under the Sherman antitrust law. It's the same problem, just with a different face. Right. So that is the argument that Goldberg is making, but sort of surprisingly, given that he used to be a Supreme Court justice, he seems to be making it very badly. He's kind of off that day. He actually gets lost on his way to court. The same court where he used to work.

[Robert Smith]

Yeah. They haven't moved it.

[Jacob Goldstein]

They haven't moved it. And he's like, kind of stammering through Curt Flood's stats in his argument. And in fact, as he's leaving the courtroom, he says, it was the worst argument I've ever made. In my life.

[Robert Smith]

He spent too much time at the U.N. i guess.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Or too much time running for governor. I don't know. I don't know. But he did badly. Now the lawyers for the league get up and make their case, and they say, one, obviously the precedent is on their side, unambiguous. And then two, this one is more subtle and I think more interesting. They say, look, the players have a union now, a real union. And in their collective bargaining, they agreed to the reserve clause. So it's a labor issue. This is not an antitrust issue.

[Robert Smith]

And that is a strong argument because it's not like they are forcing individual players to sign a contract. This is negotiated. And that reserve clause, once again, is in the contract that everyone put their name to.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah. And so if the players don't like it, that's what collective bargaining is for. You know, make a better deal when your contract comes up. So the argument ends, you know, the court goes off, and a few months later the ruling comes out. And the justices, again, as in the previous case, point out that Congress has actually considered on many occasions passing a law to make explicit that antitrust law should apply to baseball. But Congress never passed any such law. Right. And so what the court infers from this behavior is Congress does not want antitrust law to apply to baseball.

[Robert Smith]

It's not in the Constitution. It isn't. Baseball's not in the Constitution. So they think this is kind of Congress's world. And maybe they don't care.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And also, I think it is really fair to say when you look into the sort of details of like the opinion and the concurring opinion and whatever, they are still. They are still just on this very. Maybe it's weird. I don't know what kind of vibesy level treating baseball as something other than a business. Right. Like, they actually. One phrase they use is an exception and an anomaly. Baseball is an exception and anomaly and an anomaly. Hard to say. And there's this line somewhere in there, and it's this, and I kind of love it. It kind of gives away the game. They say if there is any inconsistency or illogic in all this, it is an inconsistency and illogic of longstanding that is to be remedied by the Congress and not by this court.

[Robert Smith]

Kind of like Walt Whitman, I contain multitudes.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah. Or like, don't blame me, I voted for Congress.

[Robert Smith]

Right.

[Jacob Goldstein]

They are washing their hands of anything having to do with baseball.

[Robert Smith]

Yeah. Understandable. You don't want to mess up the game. People care.

[Jacob Goldstein]

So Curt Flood loses. The reserve clause stays in place, but the story is not over yet. We'll have the end of the story in just a minute.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

In today's super competitive business environment, the edge goes to those who push harder, move faster, and level up every tool in their arsenal. T Mobile knows all about that. They're now the best network according to the experts at OOKLA Speed Test. And they're using that network to launch Super Mobile, the first and only business plan to combine intelligent performance, built in security and seamless satellite coverage. With Super Mobile, your performance, security and coverage are supercharged. With a network that adapts in real time, your business stays operating at peak capacity even in times of high demand. With built in security on the first nationwide 5G advanced network, you keep private data private for you, your team, your clients. And with seamless coverage from the world's largest satellite to mobile constellation, your whole team can text and stay updated even when they're off the grid. That's your business. Supercharged. Learn [e-mail] seamless coverage with compatible devices in most outdoor areas in the US where you can see the sky. Best Business plan based on a combination of advanced network performance coverage layers and security features. Best network based on analysis by Ookla of Speedtest Intelligence Data 1H 2025 support.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

For the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI, it all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA S I P C Advisory Services by Public Advisors L LLC SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.comdisclosures.

[Robert Smith]

And Doug.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Here we have the Limu EMU in its Natural habitat. Helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds. With Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Uh, Limu.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Is that guy with the binoculars watching us?

[Jacob Goldstein]

Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty, Liberty, Liberty.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Liberty Savings Fairy, underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates.

[Robert Smith]

Excludes Massachusetts.

[Podcast Announcer]

Every holiday shopper's got a list. But Ross shoppers, you've got a mission like a gift run that turns into a disco. Snow globe, throw pillows and PJs for the whole family. Dog included. At Ross, holiday magic isn't about spending more, it's about giving more for less. Ross, work your magic.

[Robert Smith]

And we're back. It's the top of the ninth. Curt Flood is down steps to the plate.

[Jacob Goldstein]

It becomes clear that over the sort of arc of Curt Flood's case, public opinion has, in fact, changed. People have stopped thinking of baseball players as, you know, grown men who are lucky to live every boy's dream and have started thinking of them as workers, as people who have a job. Right.

[Robert Smith]

Who are making more and more money and are switching loyalties and leaving cities. And there's a kind of, like, recognition of what baseball really is.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah, a business. Right. For example, after the verdict against Flood comes down from the Supreme Court, the New York Times writes, Robert.

[Robert Smith]

Oh, I got it. I got it. Got it.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Fly ball to Robert Smith, and he catches it.

[Robert Smith]

The highest court in the land is still averting its gaze from a system in American business that gives the employer outright ownership of his employees. They're already kind of using Kurt Flood's language, right?

[Jacob Goldstein]

Ownership. Outright ownership. That is very much Curt Flood language. Right. And in fact, it seems to be popular support. Right. Like, there's a poll that comes out around this time, and by a. By a significant margin, people side with Curt Flood and the players. And so, you know, the players feel this shift. And around the same time, Miller and the players union notice a sort of more technical detail that follows from the Curt Flood case, and that is this. Remember, part of the owner's argument was this is a labor issue, not an antitrust issue. If the players don't like it, they can renegotiate. And so the union's like, okay, great.

[Robert Smith]

They pull out the contract, they iron it out, they put on their glasses, and they see in tiny, tiny print.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah. So what it says in tiny, tiny print is, if a player gets to the end of his contract and refuses to sign a new contract, quote, the club shall have the right to renew the contract for the period of one year.

[Robert Smith]

Ah, one year. And that's a little bit unclear, right? One year from now. Can you point to the words one year and say, well, one year from now, like tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow have always done.

[Jacob Goldstein]

They have crept in that petty pace. Yes, yes. The players think, well, maybe it means I cannot sign and play for one.

[Robert Smith]

Year, and then I'm free.

[Jacob Goldstein]

I'm free. And so as part of this kind of vibes shift, the union has gotten the league to agree to take disputes to an independent arbiter, right? Goes to arbitration a few years after the Curt Flood case, a few players decide to test this language to see what does it really mean, and they refuse to sign. And they play another year without signing. And at the end of the year, their case goes to arbitration, and the arbitrator says, it says one year, 365 days. Yeah, they did it. They played for a year without a contract. Now they are free. Or as we would say today, free agents. Let's just pause here, because this is Curt Flood winning. This is what he wanted. He knew it wasn't going to matter for him, but he wanted to shift the balance of power. And it seems like his case really was instrumental in making that happen. So now these players who challenged the reserve clause and who won in arbitration can do the thing Curt Flood wanted to do, right? One of these players is a Dodgers pitcher named Andy Messersmith. He'd been making around $100,000 a year pitching for the Dodgers. The arbitrator says he can go work for any company, any baseball team that will hire him. And the Atlanta braves offer him $1 million for three years. So they're immediately more than tripling his salary.

[Robert Smith]

And every baseball player is like, huh? All right. And I mean, the Dodgers, at this.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Point, the Dodgers, like, you can't do that.

[Robert Smith]

And they're like, we could offer more money to our player and encourage him.

[Jacob Goldstein]

To stay what a normal business does when they want to keep an employee and they don't.

[Robert Smith]

And he goes to make more money with the Braves. And all of a sudden everyone's like, wait a minute. Baseball players are underpaid by definition because we've just seen this in the marketplace.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah, yeah.

[Robert Smith]

Finally, the free market speaks, and they're worth three times as much.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And so now it's 1976 by this point, when this happens, and the overall union contract for the players is up for renewal. And now in this context, the players have all the leverage, right? But interestingly, interestingly, they don't. Want it to be just a total free for all, free market at all times for all players. In part because of that valid concern that the owners have always expressed. Right. Like it would be bad if the richest team could buy up all the best players all the time.

[Robert Smith]

If it ruins baseball, then it ruins the players future earnings.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes. The pie gets smaller for everyone. Right. Ultimately they want a bigger share of.

[Robert Smith]

A bigger pie so they can negotiate this. This is the great thing about free market capitalism.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes, yes. And so what they negotiate is this deal where the team that drafts a player does still have six years of essentially control over them. So, you know, the sort of draft and farm league and, you know, picking good players without being raised still matters. But after the sixth year, players can go free agent. Similar things are happening in basketball and football. There are cases that the players win in both of those sports that makes it easier for them to go free agent. Although in the NFL, it stays pretty hard for players to go free agent for a while. And they all end up coming up up with various ways to manage this sort of regulated competition problem. Like, you know, you have salary caps, you have a luxury tax, various ways so that the richest owner can't just buy up all the talent. And it works. Right? Sports stay competitive, they stay popular. In fact, obviously they get more and more popular, more and more lucrative. And, you know, the bottom line is, of course there's tons more money in sports today. But the key question for this case goes back to that division you were talking about at the beginning. Right. Labor versus capital. How much goes to the players versus the owners? And when Curt Flood brought his case, about 25% of team revenue went to players about a quarter. Today it's about half. So like the percentage going to players has doubled.

[Robert Smith]

And I'm sure if you listen to AM sports radio, they debate this all the time. I mean, there are probably people who say like, they're putting in all the work, they should get 100%, whatever. But that's. It doesn't matter because that's the negotiation. That is what a strong worker and a strong workers union can negotiate with strong management. And it happens in every industry where this sort of has to get worked through.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah. I mean, it is the case. I feel like people do still love to complain about players being overpaid.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Right.

[Jacob Goldstein]

That same thing that Gussie Bush was talking about in the locker room in 1969 still feels true today.

[Robert Smith]

Sure. They have one bad game and you're like, we're playing him $10 million.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yes. To play baseball to suck. And so I do still think there is that vestigial thing of like, they're playing a game, it's wrong to pay them so much, but like, it's a business. And like, if you think they're overpaid, like, maybe there's a business case, like, are the Dodgers losing money by paying Shohei Ohtani $70 million a year? *, mostly.

[Robert Smith]

Deferred. And I think these days, with the number of ways people are getting extraordinarily rich, Shohei Ohtani looks pretty good as someone who is maybe the best of his.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Generation.

[Robert Smith]

Yeah. Provides so much joy, so good at what he.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Does.

[Robert Smith]

Yeah. Let him have the.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Money. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I certainly feel that way. And you know, today maybe the most kind of relevant contemporary version of this dynamic that played out in the Curt Flood story is college athletes, right? The ncaa, which was in fact amateur sports. The players were in fact student athletes for a long time. And then more and more money started pouring into college football and basketball in particular. People, you know, millions, tens of millions of people watching on tv, huge amounts of money. And it got weird because, like the coaches were making millions of dollars, tons of.

[Robert Smith]

Money. They were building these giant new buildings. The college was bringing in a ton from donations and from viewership and all this.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Stuff. And the players got a.

[Robert Smith]

Scholarship.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah. And they were the amateurs. And it just became ridiculous. And in fact, you know, initially there was this rule that players could sell their name, image and.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Likeness.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Right. That developed a while ago. They could basically do endorsement deals is what that meant. And it was only just this year, 2025, that a judge approved an agreement in an antitrust case, a monopsony case, fundamentally, that said, now colleges can pay athletes. Just now that is happening and that is the same.

[Robert Smith]

Story. And we're even seeing this beyond sports non compete clauses, which used to be in some industries that said, oh, you can leave my television station, but you can't go be an anchor at the.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Competing. Uh huh. A kind of like a reserve clause. And people agreed to.

[Robert Smith]

Them. And people agreed to them. They wrote in the contract. And now some states are saying like, no, like that's, that is a restraint of trade of the person who decides to take their talents elsewhere. And so, you know, this thing that Curt Flood did can affect all of us who are workers because it gives everyone just a slight advantage, I think, in talking about, you know, what are the fundamental rights you have as a supplier of.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Labor. So the last thing we should talk about is what happened to Curt Flood, you know, the last we heard from him, it was the early 70s, and he was working at a bar in Mallorca and drinking a lot. He eventually ran out of money, but his family helped him out. He got sober. He moved back to the US and ultimately became recognized for what he had done. His last big public moment came in 1994. The players union had gone on strike. It was a long strike. It was dragging out. They had canceled the World Series. So, you know, people again were complaining about, oh, these baseball players, oh, they have such a hard life. How can they demand more money? It's like the ghost of Gussie Bush, you know, whispering in America's ear or whatever. And the players themselves are starting to doubt what they're doing, starting to think, you know, maybe we should just go back to work. But, like, the owners had actually been accused at this time of colluding to suppress pay for free agents. Right. Like, it's a serious thing. It really does feel like they're trying to drag baseball backwards. And so some of the players who want to keep fighting, keep the strike going actually call Curt Flood in to come and talk in person to a room full of players to basically give them a pep talk. And so Curt Flood comes in and he says, stand your ground. He says, I fought so that you could be doing this today. He actually has this line that he says, don't let the owners put the genie back in the bottle. And when he finished, the players stood up and.

[Robert Smith]

Applauded. Nice. Opushkin just called. You've been traded to a Philadelphia true crime.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Podcast. Sorry, buddy, I'm not going. I'm not going. Let's take her to court. We'll write a public.

[Robert Smith]

Letter. Stonely wooded letter. Our producer is Gabriel Hunter Chang, our engineer is Sarah Brugiere, and our showrunner is Ryan.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Dilley. I'm Jacob.

[Robert Smith]

Goldstein. And I'm Robert Smith. We'll be back next week with another episode of Business History, a show.

[Jacob Goldstein]

About the history, wait for it, of.

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[Robert Smith]

Penn. I'm Ed.

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Helms. Ed and I are inviting you to join the best sounding book club.

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