A Well-Paid Slave (61 page)

38 “I recall”: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 25.

38 He thrived; Art Club: Marge Brans interview; Oakland Tech 1956 Yearbook.

38 “fooled around”:
SPD
, 6/26/58, 2E.

38 close as brothers; enduring racial slights: Dave Draheim interview; Dale Powers interview; John Engels interview.

38 In 27 Legion games:
HPE
, 3/31/56, 7.

39 “He had immense”: Bobby Mattick interview.

39 An infielder: Bobby Mattick interview;
TSN
, 11/6/71, 44; Keith, “Someone Old, Someone New,”
SI
, 4/26/80, 46, 49.

39 Hot after Robinson: Bobby Mattick interview; J. W. Porter interview; Marge Brans interview; Laurie Powles interview; Robinson,
My Life Is Baseball
, 39-40, 42-43.

39 Mattick persuaded: Bobby Mattick interview. Powles remained on the Reds' payroll until 1960.
TSN
, 2/17/60, 18. When Mattick moved to the Astros, Powles helped Houston sign Bay Area product Joe Morgan even though Morgan had never even played for Powles.
TSN
, 3/13/65, 24.

39 “Everybody signed”: Joe Gaines interview.

39 After Curt graduated: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 32-33;
OT
, 1/31/56, 33. Oakland Tech was divided into January and June classes.

39 “We were prepared”:
OT
, 1/31/56, 33.

39 “that all 16”:
CE
, 2/1/56, 30.

39 “no less than 11”; “around $25,000”:
OT
, 1/31/56, 33.

39 In truth: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 32; Bobby Mattick interview.

39 In part because:
OT
, 1/31/56, 33;
TSN
, 2/15/56, 2.

40 standard team questionnaire: Flood file, Reds Museum.

40 The only one not enjoying: Herman Flood Jr. interview.

40 lengthy criminal record: Carl Flood FBI file.

40 “The three hits”: Thomas Johnson interview.

40 “He turned it”: Herman Flood Jr. interview. Mattick said he did not recall seeing him play, much less making him an offer. Bobby Mattick interview.

40 a tailor's assistant: Garrow,
Bearing the Cross
, 11-22.

40 a 14-year-old Chicago boy:
WP
, 9/1/55, 2;
NYT
, 9/4/55, S9;
NYT
, 9/18/55, E7;
NYT
, 9/22/55, 64;
WP
, 5/11/2004, A3.

42
“I am pleased”
: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 18.

42 “White”; “Colored”; “For a wild”: Ibid., 34.

42 Flood could not wait: Ibid., 34-35.

42 Chuck Harmon: Chuck Harmon interview.

43 he impressed:
CTS
, 3/5/56, 18.

43 flailed at the plate: Stump, “Curt Flood in the Midnight League,”
Sport
, 3/65, 79.

43 His lone highlight:
NYT
, 4/1/56, 161;
CE
, 4/1/56, 45;
TSN
, 4/11/56, 32.

43 “after ten years”:
TSN
, 6/6/56, 9; Tygiel,
Baseball's Great Experiment
, 314.

43 Immediately after:
CE
, 4/1/56, 46;
CST
, 3/31/56, 14.

43 The players lived in barracks: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 36;
HPE
, 3/29/56, 3D.

43 He and the other black players: Karl Kuehl interview; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 36.

43 At night: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 36-37.

43 “looked miserable”:
HPE
, 4/11/56, 7B.

43 60,000:
Baseball Blue Book 1956
, 32.

43 “I was ready”: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 37.

44 Whites rioted:
NYT
, 2/5/56, 60; Branch,
Parting the Waters
, 167-68; Patterson,
Grand Expectations
, 396.

44 In March, 100:
NYT
, 3/13/56, 1, 14; Patterson,
Grand Expectations
, 398; Branch,
Parting the Waters
, 183.

44 Dr. King's Montgomery bus boycott: Garrow,
Bearing the Cross
, 76-82; Branch,
Parting the Waters
, 186-96;
Gayle v. Browder
, 352 U.S. 903 (1956);
NYT
, 11/14/56, 1, 22;
NYT
, 12/22/56, 1, 11.

44 The Carolina League's: Adelson,
Brushing Back Jim Crow
, 39-46.

44 Two years later:
NYTM
, 10/13/91, 53; Robinson,
Baseball Has Done It
, 136; Adelson,
Brushing Back Jim Crow
, 70.

44 “peckerwood league”: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 39. 44 “One of my first”: Ibid., 37.

44 During the first few: Ibid., 38-39.

44 “It's hell down”: Stump, “Curt Flood in the Midnight League,”
Sport
, 3/65, 79.

44 “I felt too young”: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 38-39.

45 “His sister called”: Bobby Mattick interview.

45 “What had started”: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 38.

45 “We were Jackie's”: Ed Charles interview. See also Adelson,
Brushing Back Jim Crow
, 16-17.

46 “considerable amount”:
HPE
, 7/20/56, 6B.

46 “There's a goddamned”: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 37-38.

46 yelled “Run, nigger”: John Ivory Smith interview.

46 until he was transferred:
HPE
, 5/12/56, 7.

46 A month later:
HPE
, 6/11/56, 4B.

46 White teammates saw: Amiel Solomon interview.

46 He once ate: Stump, “Curt Flood in the Midnight League,”
Sport
, 3/65, 79.

46 Flood had to ask: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 38.

46 His manager: Karl Kuehl interview; Ibid., 38.

47 “attitude”; “courage”; “They keep”:
DS
, 8/1/56, D1.

47 “The manager”: Carl Long interview. On July 27, Flood homered in the ninth off Paepke. He also doubled twice, tripled, and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. There is no record of any stolen bases.
HPE
, 7/28/56, 7;
KDFP
, 7/28/56, 2. The Carolina League box scores did not record hit batsmen, but Paepke “walked” four.

47 singer Nat King Cole:
NYT
, 4/11/56, 1;
LAT
, 4/12/56, 2.

47 “[A] guy was hiding”:
TSN
, 4/20/68, 8.

47 128 RBIs:
TSN
, 1/9/57, 8. There is some confusion over Flood's RBI total. Unofficial records immediately after the season credited him with 123.
TSN
, 9/12/56, 38;
RNO
, 9/9/56, II-3. Other sources said 120.
TSN
, 9/19/56, 7;
GDN
, 9/4/56, sec. 2, 4 (just over 120). That number, however, was eventually updated to 128.

47 He dazzled teammates: Nelvin Cooper interview; Haven Schmidt interview; Amiel Solomon interview.

47 Pesky proclaimed:
DS
, 8/1/56, D1.

47 The Carolina League named:
RNO
, 9/6/56, 18.

47 “I lit up”: Stump, “Curt Flood in the Midnight League,”
Sport
, 3/65, 79.

48 “Pride was my”: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 39.

48 Flood was excluded: Sam Bercovich interview.

48 135 pounds: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 39.

48 “I believe”: Ibid., 40.

48 He had never been: Burns/Flood interview, 3.

48 On the plane:
TSN
, 9/19/56, 7.

48 number 27: The
Baseball Almanac
lists Flood as wearing number 27 in 1956. See
www.baseballalmanac.com/players/player.php?p=floodcu01
. So does the 1956 Reds yearbook. E-mail, May 13, 2004, with Greg Rhodes, curator of the Reds Museum. Outfielder Al Silvera wore number 27 in 1955 and 1956 until the Reds released him on May 15, 1956.
NYT
, 5/16/56, 41. Reds pitcher Hal Jeffcoat already had number 42. The following year, Flood wore number 21 at spring training and in September.
CE
, 4/4/57, 46;
SMN
, 4/13/57, 46. Flood was not listed in the 1957 Reds yearbook. He wore number 21 for his entire career with the Cardinals except his rookie season in 1958, when he wore Robinson's number 42.

48 A week after joining:
NYT
, 9/17/56, 30;
WP
, 9/17/56, 15, 19;
CE
, 9/17/56, 1.

49 After the season: Rampersad,
Jackie Robinson
, 303-9; TT, 195:12-196:9 (Robinson).

49 The Reds, who regarded: Undated article, Curt Flood file, Reds Museum;
CE
, 9/10/56, 39;
CE
, 9/12/56, 34;
TSN
, 10/17/56, 32; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 42.

49 “wasn't prepared”: Adelson,
Brushing Back Jim Crow
, 88. See Aaron with Wheeler,
I Had a Hammer
, 55-76; Aaron with Bisher,
Aaron
, 30-38.

49 the Georgia Senate:
CE
, 2/15/57, 36; Adelson,
Brushing Back Jim Crow
, 202-7.

49 “I think it's”: Adelson,
Brushing Back Jim Crow
, 206.

49 That same year: Branch,
Parting the Waters
, 220.

49 Arkansas governor Orval Faubus: Ibid., 222-25.

50
Savannah Morning News
:
SMN
, 9/4/57, 1;
SMN
, 9/5/57, 1;
SMN
, 9/6/57, 1.

50 “The Georgia city”: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 42.

50 in between games: Burns/Flood interview, 6; Lee, “The Curt Flood Story,”
Real Sports
, 3/10/97.

50 He could not even wait: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 43; “Curt Flood,”
ESPN SportsCentury
(Pace); Ed Charles interview. Flood's white Savannah teammates did not remember his dressing in a separate area. Buddy Gilbert interview; Haven Schmidt interview; Glenn Isringhaus interview. Neither did his black teammate, John Ivory Smith. John Ivory Smith interview.

50 He could not find: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 42-43; Stump, “Curt Flood in the Midnight League,”
Sport
, 3/65, 79.

50 Savannah center fielder Buddy Gilbert: Buddy Gilbert interview; Halberstam,
October 1964
, 113-14.

50 “Poor Gilbert's”: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 44.

50 “He took a lot”: Buddy Gilbert interview.

50 In August, he injured:
SMN
, 8/25/57, sec. 3, 22.

51 His .299 average:
AC
, 9/15/57, 9-B. Fourth among hitters with more than 400 at-bats.

51 He finished: Including 24 doubles (third), 8 triples, 14 home runs, 82 RBIs (fourth), 97 runs (first), 170 hits (tied second), 252 total bases (tied second), 80 walks, and 53 strikeouts.
AC
, 9/15/57, 9-B;
SMN
, 9/15/57, 23.

51 He made two:
SMN
, 7/14/57, sec. 3, 25;
SMN
, 8/18/57, 26;
AC
, 8/18/57, 3-B.

51 His first major league:
CE
, 9/26/57, 37;
SPD
, 4/10/68, 4C.

51 He was sent:
CE
, 3/3/58, 34; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 45;
TSN
, 10/9/57, 33.

51 “a flock of nobodies”:
LAT
, 7/5/68, D1.

51 Cincinnati was not ready: Flood,
The Way It Is
, 47.

51 After tearing up:
CE
, 3/4/58, 27;
CE
, 3/24/58, 25;
CE
, 3/30/58, 30. Pinson's numbers in Visalia: .367, 20 HR, 97 RBI, 165 runs, 209 hits, 349 total bases, 40 doubles, 20 triples, and 53 stolen bases.

52 Mattick pointed out; too small: Bobby Mattick interview.

52 Tebbetts denied: Pepe, “How Flood Finally Made It,”
Sport
, 11/62, 45; Stump, “Curt Flood in the Midnight League,”
Sport
, 3/65, 78; Flood,
The Way It Is
, 62.

52 including Frank Robinson: Bobby Mattick interview; Robinson,
Baseball Is My Life
, 49-50.

52 “There was a quota”: “Curt Flood,”
ESPN SportsCentury
(Robinson). In addition to Robinson, Pinson, Crowe, and Thurman, the 1958 Reds also opened the season with black pitchers Brooks Lawrence and Joe Black.

52 In 1947, several southern: Rampersad,
Jackie Robinson
, 174-75; Tygiel,
Base-ball's Great Experiment
, 185-88; Allen,
Jackie Robinson
, 135-44 (interviews Cardinals players dismissing the story); Kahn,
The Era
, 341-42 (characterizing the denials of the Cardinals players as weak); Red Smith interview, Chandler Collection (explaining how the
New York Herald Tribune
's Stanley Woodward broke the story and why the denials are wrong).

52 On the Garagiola incident:
TSN
, 9/24/47, 6;
CT
, 9/12/47, 32;
NYT
, 9/12/47, 39; Robinson,
My Own Story
, 129, 158-59; Tygiel,
Baseball's Great Experiment
, 204; Rampersad,
Jackie Robinson
, 184-85.

52 On the Slaughter incident:
CT
, 8/21/47, 27;
NYT
, 8/21/47, 21;
RAA
, 8/30/47, 12;
RAA
, 9/20/47, 15;
TSN
, 8/27/47, 4; Robinson,
My Own Story
, 158; Roeder,
Jackie Robinson
, 136-37; Robinson, “A Kentucky Colonel kept me in baseball,”
Look
, 2/8/55, 84. Cardinals outfielder Joe Medwick also collided with Robinson and spiked him at first base.
RAA
, 8/30/47, 12. But that appears to have been accidental. Robinson credited Medwick as one of the players who, like Greenberg, tried to help him out. Robinson, “A Kentucky Colonel kept me in baseball,”
Look
, 2/8/55, 87.

52 A few years later: Rampersad,
Jackie Robinson
, 246-47; Golenbock,
Bums
, 428-29 (Roger Kahn recalling Cardinals bench jockeying in 1953 that included epithets such as “nigger” and “black bastard”).