One Man Out: Curt Flood versus Baseball (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: One Man Out: Curt Flood versus Baseball Lisa Doris Alexander Robert M. Goldman. One Man Out: Curt Flood versus Baseball. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2008. 158 pp. Paper, $16.95. In 2009, the Veteran's Committee will decide whether Curt Flood should be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Flood's possible induction has made him a popular research subject: no less than five books have been written about Flood since 2006. Each has its own voice and unique take on Flood and his Supreme Court case. Robert Goldman provides the most recent study, and since this book is part of the University Press of Kansas's Landmark Law Cases and American Society series, it focuses less on Flood's biography and more on the legal aspects of his case. Chapter one provides a brief synopsis of the events leading up to Flood's lawsuit, including the rapidly deteriorated relationship between Gussie Busch and Flood; the trade from St. Louis to Philadelphia; and the early legal wrangling in federal court. The second chapter actually takes a step back and discusses Flood's life before baseball within the context of the Cardinals' integration attempts in the mid-1950s. For readers who are familiar with Flood's resume and baseball's racial history, the chapter sequence works well. However, readers who are unfamiliar with the subject matter could be confused because Goldman explains what Flood did before painting a picture of who Flood was. In the book's preface, Goldman argues that his book "attempts to explain [Flood's] case in both its legal and historical perspective and setting" (xiii). Chapter three brings the reader to Goldman's purpose by discussing the reserve clause, the National Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players' challenges, and the early legal battles that pitted players against management. This is where One Man Out distinguishes itself. Most books on Flood casually mention these previous court cases involving baseball and the reserve clause, if they are mentioned at all. Here, readers can sift through approximately eighty years of jurisprudence in forty pages. Goldman provides readers with background information on the Sherman Act as well as a discussion of the central questions and judgment summaries for relevant court cases, from 1890's [End Page 166] Metropolitan Exhibition Company v. Ward to 1919's Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore v. National League of Professional Baseball, et al. to 1953's Toolson v. New York Yankees. Chapter four continues the legal trajectory by discussing cases brought against the NFL and NBA which helped cement MLB's "special" anti-trust status and chronicling the beginnings of the Players Association. The remaining chapters dive into Curtis G. Flood v. Bowie Kuhn et al. Chapter five tackles the trial itself and offers a detailed consideration of Judge Irving Ben Cooper's interesting behavior. While discussing the appeals process in chapter six, Goldman highlights Flood's brief and ultimately unsuccessful return to baseball. Chapter seven walks readers step by step through the entire Supreme Court process. Once again, Goldman offers far more detail about the actual procedures involved in bringing Flood's case before the Court than previous works, including a summary of the submitted briefs from both sides, a brief discussion of the Justices and how they were appointed, and an account of the controversy regarding how Flood's attorney, Arthur Goldberg, himself a former member of the bench, should be addressed during oral arguments. After detailing the oral arguments phase of the process, Goldman presents an inside look into the deliberations based primarily on material from Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong's The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court (Avon Books, 1996). While the information may not give readers any peace of mind regarding the sanctity of the justice system, we learn that the final decision was "the result of several weeks of negotiation, switching sides, and implied 'vote-trading'" (114). Goldman finishes the chapter by outlining the majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions in Flood. The final chapter naturally is a "postgame analysis" of the Flood case. Why has this case endured in legal circles? What impact, if any, did this case have on the impending end of the...