A Well-Paid Slave (58 page)

My brother Ivan and his wife Tamara also have been sources of emotional support and comic relief. On a weekly basis, my brother would call me and ask: “Is the book done yet?” I can finally say, yes, Ivan, it is.

Finally, I'd like to thank Curt Flood. I never had the chance to meet Curt or even speak to him on the phone, but my admiration for him runs deep. His guts and courage made me want to write this book. I hope I have done his story justice.

1 at 4 a.m.: Herman Flood Jr. interview. There is some dispute as to whether Flood first heard about the trade from a newspaper reporter or from Toomey. Curt's oldest brother, Herman, who was living with Flood in St. Louis at the time, distinctly recalls Curt being woken up by a baseball writer. “Herm,” Curt said after waking up his brother, “I've just been traded.” Ibid. Marvin Miller also said that a newspaper reporter contacted Flood first. Marvin Miller interview; Miller,
A Whole Different Ball Game
, 172. Finally, in an interview with Ken Burns, Flood confirmed that a “sportswriter” called him first, then Toomey. Burns/Flood Transcript, 8-9. A sportswriter could have called him first. The
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
was an afternoon paper with early-morning deadlines. It ran a brief, unsigned article on the day of the trade.
SPD
, 10/8/69, 4E.
Post-Dispatch
sports columnist Bob Broeg was a close friend of Cardinals general manager Bing Devine and was probably the first reporter to learn about the trade. Broeg, however, did not remember calling Flood. Bob Broeg interview. And the sportswriter closest to Flood was Jack Herman of the
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
.

In the weeks and months after the trade, however, Flood never mentioned the sportswriter, only Toomey. During his trial testimony (under oath), he said he first learned about the trade in a phone call from Toomey. He said the same thing in a magazine article five months after the trade and in his autobiography written two years later. TT, 43:3-14; Flood, “Why I Am Challenging Baseball,”
Sport
, 3/70, 10, in Thorn, ed.,
The Armchair Book of Baseball
, 130; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 185, 187.

1 The voice: Flood, “Why I Am Challenging Baseball,”
Sport
, 3/70, 10, in Thorn, ed.,
The Armchair Book of Baseball
, 130.

1 “Hello, Curt?”: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 185.

1 “middle-echelon coffee drinker”: Ibid., 187.

2 Under the major league rules: Major League Rule 4-A in 1969
Blue Book
.

2 “[T]he Club shall have the right”: TT, 25A. Prior to the 1968 Basic Agreement, a player's salary could be reduced by a maximum of 25 percent.

3 The morning of Toomey's: Herman Flood Jr. interview; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 185-86.

3 “When Bob and I were reading”:
SPD
, 1/28/97, 1C.

3 One of Flood's favorite authors:
CP
, 9/22/99, 1B.

4 “the relatively conscious whites”; “God gave Noah”: Baldwin,
Collected Essays
, 346-47.

4 A few hours after: TT, 45:12-46:22 (Flood); Flood,
The Way It Is
, 188.

4 so Flood left a message: TT, 1134:18-25 (Devine).

4 At 9:30 a.m., Devine explained: TT, 1130:18-22, 1134:11-16, 18-23 (Devine).

4 As soon as it was over: TT, 1134:18-23 (Devine).

4 Devine had wanted: TT, 1131:8-24 (Devine).

4 least respected: Tim McCarver interview.

4 On the last night:
SPD
, 1/29/67, 7B. See also Devine,
The Memoirs of Bing Devine
, 83-85; Halberstam,
October 1964
, 28-30;
TSN
, 5/9/62, 10;
SGD
, 12/6/57, 21.

5 The Cardinals' manager:
SGD
, 2/11/58, 17;
TSN
, 2/19/58, 22;
TSN
, 3/5/58, 21.

5 At the time:
TSN
, 11/13/57, 23;
SGD
, 2/11/58, 17; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 45-47.

5 He was sitting: Flood, “Why I Am Challenging Baseball,”
Sport
, 3/70, 10, in Thorn, ed.,
The Armchair Book of Baseball
, 126-27; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 47.

5 For 30 minutes: Flood, “Why I Am Challenging Baseball,”
Sport
, 3/70, 10, in Thorn, ed.,
The Armchair Book of Baseball
, 126;
TSN
, 10/30/65, 8.

5 He vowed:
WP
, 1/2/70, D6.

5 Twelve years later: TT, 45:12-46:22 (Flood); TT, 1135:6-14 (Devine);
SPD
, 10/8/69, 4E;
SPD
, 10/9/69, 4D; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 188.

5 He was physically and mentally: TT, 1135:6-14 (Devine);
SPD
, 10/9/69, 6D.

5 Toomey had insulted him:
SPD
, 2/25/69, 1B;
SPD
, 2/27/69, 1C;
SGD
, 2/27/69, 1D; TT, 1138:14-17 (Devine); Flood,
The Way It Is
, 172.

5 “Baseball's Best Centerfielder”: Leggett, “Not Just a Flood, but a Deluge,”
SI
, 8/19/68, 1, 18-24. According to the “Win Shares method” conceived by statistical guru Bill James, Flood was the best defensive outfielder in baseball history. James, however, concedes that Flood's early exit from the game inflated his overall ranking. James,
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract
, 747-48.

5 The press predicted:
NYP
, 3/20/69, 104.

6 Flood believed that:
SPD
, 3/4/69, 3C (Flood: “If I don't get it after the year I had, I never will”).

6 “If you don't pay me”: TT, 69:11-12 (Flood);
SPD
, 3/2/69, 1F;
TSN
, 3/15/69, 8 (reporting that one player threatened to quit, believing it to be Flood).

6 “At this moment”:
SGD
, 3/3/69, 1B. For similar quotes, see
SPD
, 2/27/69, 1C (reporting that Flood is asking for $100,000);
SGD
, 2/27/69, 1D (“If Lou [Brock] gets $100,000, there will be three of us,” Flood said. Gibson was already making more than $100,000. Brock settled for $88,000); Flood,
The Way It Is
, 172 (Flood incorrectly later wrote that he demanded $90,000, not $100,000).

6 Devine explained:
SPD
, 3/4/69, 1C; TT, 69:2-14 (Flood).

6 “I'm making $90,000 now”:
NYP
, 3/20/69, 104.

6 The ball sailed:
SPD
, 10/11/68, 1B, 2B;
SGD
, 10/11/68, 1B, 2B;
PI
, 10/11/68, 34;
WP
, 10/11/68, E1, E2;
TSN
, 10/26/68, 8. Flood lost a ball in the white shirts earlier in the Series, breaking late in Game 2 on Dick McAuliffe's sinking bases-loaded liner. The ball went off Flood's glove and two runs scored.
SPD
, 10/4/68, 6C;
TSN
, 10/19/68, 7, 8.

6 Flood accepted full responsibility:
SPD
, 10/11/68, 1B;
SGD
, 10/11/68, 1B, 2B;
PI
, 10/11/68, 34.

7 During spring training: Flood,
The Way It Is
, App. B, 228-36;
SPD
, 3/23/69, 1A, 9A, 1B;
SGD
, 3/24/69, 1B;
SGD
, 3/25/69, 3B;
SPD
, 3/24/69, 2C;
TSN
, 4/5/69, 3.

7 Busch's favorite player:
SPD
, 5/21/65, 4B; Hernon and Ganey,
Under the Influence
, 244.

7 In May 1969: TT, 41:8-14, 23-25 (Flood);
SGD
, 4/26-27/69, 6H; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 85-86; Flood, “Why I Am Challenging Baseball,”
Sport
, 3/70, 10, in Thorn, ed.,
The Armchair Book of Baseball
, 127-28.

7 His bat orders; He discovered; “Something is happening”; “They're either going”; “Yes”: Jim “Mudcat” Grant interview.

7 In May 1969, the newspapers:
SPD
, 5/21/69, 4C;
SGD
, 5/22/69, 1D;
BES
, 5/21/69, D2.

7 anonymous comments:
SGD
, 9/9/69, 1C.

7 Devine responded:
SGD
, 9/10/69, 2B; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 184.

7 “If they trade me”:
PEB
, 10/9/69, 29;
PI
, 11/14/69, 37.

7 the same mental and physical: TT, 1135:6-14 (Devine);
SPD
, 10/9/69, 6D.

7 “shot me down”: TT, 1136:23-25, 1137:2-18 (Devine).

7 “emotional reaction”: TT, 1135:16-24 (Devine).

7 The Cardinals general manager believed: TT, 1135:25-1136:13 (Devine).

8 “Well, there's not much use”: TT, 1136:3-4 (Devine).

8 He then offhandedly: TT, 1136:11-17 (Devine).

8 Flood sat in a chair: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 185-86.

8 Quinn called:
PDN
, 10/9/69, 67.

8 “comes as a surprise”; “For the past two years”; “I then told”:
SPD
, 10/8/69, 4E;
SPD
, 10/9/69, 6D.

9 “unless he's better”:
SPD
, 10/12/69, 7B. For variations of this quote, see
SPD
, 1/4/70, 3D;
WP
, 1/2/70, D6.

9 In March 1967, he had presented:
SPD
, 3/10/67, 1E;
SGD
, 3/10/67, 1B.

9 Busch was so enamored:
SPD
, 3/10/67, 1E;
SPD
, 10/1/67, 29J.

9 the governors of Illinois and Missouri:
SGD
, 2/22/68, 1D (Illinois);
SGD
, 9/26/68, 8D (Missouri);
SGD
, 8/22/69, 3B (Pope).

9 Leukemia Guild of Missouri:
SPD
, 12/21/67, 9C; “Oil in the Outfield,”
Sport
, 3/68, 8;
SPD
, 9/6/68, 2D.

9 he had made an extra $15,000: “Oil in the Outfield,”
Sport
, 3/68, 8.

9 “Rembrandt”:
SGD Magazine
, 3/31/68, 4, in
TSN
, 4/20/68, 9; Gross, “Curt Flood—Ballplayer and Artist,”
SGD Sunday Magazine
, 3/31/68, 4, reprinted in
TSN
, 4/20/68, 9, and
Ebony
, 7/68, 70.

9
Today
show: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 130.

9 above her desk: King, “Martin's Legacy,”
Ebony
, 1/86, 108 (photograph).

9 “Your painting”:
SPD
, 9/6/68, 2D.

9 White House:
NYT
, 1/22/02, A15;
WP
, 1/22/02, A2; Judy Pace Flood interview.

9 Yes, he had been drawing:
SPD
, 9/11/67, 2D; Gross, “Curt Flood—Ballplayer and Artist,”
SGD Sunday Magazine
, 3/31/68, 4, reprinted in
TSN
, 4/20/68, 9, and
Ebony
, 7/68, 70; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 21, 30.

9 During the fall of 1959:
TSN
, 4/20/68, 9; Gross, “Curt Flood—Ballplayer and Artist,”
SGD Sunday Magazine
, 3/31/68, 4, reprinted in
TSN
, 4/20/68, 9, and
Ebony
, 7/68, 70.

10 His sketches of teammate:
SPD
, 9/8/63, 4F;
TSN
, 9/7/63, 4.

10 watched him unpack the paintings: Bill Jones interview.

10 The day after the trade: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 185-86, 188.

10 “Notice to player number 614”; “Best of luck”: TT, 48-49 (Flood).

10 “If I had been”: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 187.

10 Flood was so depressed: Ibid., 189.

10 Few people understood; “that white lady”: Ibid., 124.

10 mother hen: Marian Jorgensen interview; Jim “Mudcat” Grant interview.

10 Mean and sometimes Machiavellian: Marian Jorgensen interview; Bill Jones interview.

10 Flood met Marian: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 113-19.

11 “humanists”: Ibid., 115.

11 The Jorgensens became: Ibid., 113-19.

11 The owner of an Oakland engraving: Ibid., 118-19.

11 the Lord's Prayer: Stump, “Curt Flood in the Midnight League,”
Sport
, 3/65, 79.