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

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.

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)

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)

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

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.

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.