Curt Flood

Curt Flood
Flood with the Cardinals
Center fielder
Born: (1938-01-18)January 18, 1938 Houston, Texas
Died: January 20, 1997(1997-01-20) (aged 59) Los Angeles, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 9, 1956, for the Cincinnati Redlegs
Last MLB appearance
April 25, 1971, for the Washington Senators
MLB statistics
Batting average	.293
Hits	1,861
Runs batted in	636
Teams
Cincinnati Redlegs (1956–1957) St. Louis Cardinals (1958–1969) Washington Senators (1971)
Career highlights and awards
3× All-Star (1964, 1966, 1968) 2× World Series champion (1964, 1967) 7× Gold Glove Award (1963–1969) St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame

Curtis Charles Flood (January 18, 1938 – January 20, 1997) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder who spent 15-seasons in the major leagues playing for the Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Senators.

Flood was an All-Star for three seasons and Gold Glove winner for seven consecutive seasons. He batted over .300 seven seasons. He led the National League (NL) in hits (211) in 1964 and in singles, 1963, 64, and 68. He also led the National League in putouts as center fielder four-times and in fielding percentage as center fielder three-times. Flood retired with the third most games in center field (1683) in NL history, trailing Willie Mays and Richie Ashburn.

Flood became one of the pivotal figures in the sport's labor history when he refused to accept a trade following the 1969 season, ultimately appealing his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Although his legal challenge was unsuccessful, it brought about additional solidarity among players as they fought against baseball's reserve clause and sought free agency.

Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Oakland, California, Flood played in the same outfield in West Oakland's McClymonds High School as Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson. Flood signed with the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1956 and made a handful of appearances for the team in 1956–57 before being traded to the Cardinals in December 1957. For the next twelve seasons, he became a fixture in center field for St. Louis; although he struggled at the plate from 1958 to 1960, his defensive skill was apparent. He had his breakthrough year after Johnny Keane took over as manager in 1961: He batted .322 and followed by hitting .296 in 1962 with 11 home runs. He continued to improve offensively in 1963, hitting .302 and scoring a career-high 112 runs, third most in the NL; he also had career bests in doubles (34), triples (9) and stolen bases (17) and collected 200 hits in an NL-leading 662 at bats. In that year he received the first of his seven consecutive Gold Gloves.