‘I WANT MY FATHER IN THE HALL OF FAME’: CURT FLOOD’S HEROIC LEGACY

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No one sacrificed as much as Flood so future major leaguers could benefit

Although he lost his challenge, Flood’s resistance was enough to convince baseball owners that the writing was on the wall, and that they’d better agree to an arbitration system.

That system terminated the reserve clause in 1972. Three years later, two white pitchers, Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, won arbitration, effectively setting free agency in motion.