By Gene Barton
The year was 1969. Curt Flood had just finished another stellar season as the St. Louis Cardinals’ All-Star/Gold Glove centerfielder. He had set Major League fielding records and won two World Series with the Cards in 1964 and 1967. Life was good.
But he had ticked off management by demanding a $100,000 salary, confronted management publicly, and slipped at the plate. Shortly after the end of the season, the Cardinals traded him, along with other players (including popular catcher and longtime television broadcaster Tim McCarver) to the Philadelphia Phillies, to essentially acquire slugger Richie Allen.1 On the heels of another World Series appearance, the Cardinals had...