February27
Today a history lesson; tomorrow an exam.
In a post on December 6, I mentioned in passing that Moses Fleetwood Walker was the first major league baseball player Credit usually goes to Jackie Robinson, and that is okay with me because a 70 year behind-closed-doors ban intervened between Walker and Robinson. Walker had a younger brother who followed him into the major leagues. Jim Crow was a much more serious matter in the late 19th century than it ever was in Robinson’s day, and eventually, the Walker brothers and blacks who followed them were unceremoniously kicked out. Their very lives were often in danger. Crowds would scream “Kill the nigger” and surely that would frighten any sensible black man – and the Walker brothers were more than sensible. Fleetwood studied French, German, Latin and math at Oberlin College and then attended the U. Michigan law school in the 1860s before going on to his professional baseball career. Cap Anson, baseball’s greatest 19th century star, and perhaps the most influential person in the history of the game, said he would never play against him or any other darkies, coons or “no account niggers.” After baseball began its informal ban of blacks, thanks mainly to the power of Anson, Welday Walker, the younger brother, wrote a letter to The Sporting Life saying, “The ban is a disgrace….[It] casts derision at the laws of Ohio that say all men are equal……There should be some broader cause – such as want of ability, behavior and intelligence – for barring a player.”
The brothers are now hardly even a footnote in baseball history.
Almost a century later, Curt Flood and Oscar Robertson challenged the structure of contracts, claiming they were human beings, not chattel. Curt Flood was a very fine baseball player but not one of the greats and, for that reason will be remembered primarily for a letter he sent to Bowie Kuhn, the baseball commissioner, on December 24, 1969:
Flood wrote: “After twelve years in the Major Leagues, I do not feel I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. I believe that any system which produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States and of the sovereign States.
It is my desire to play baseball in 1970, and I am capable of playing. I have received a contract offer from the Philadelphia Club, but I believe I have the right to consider offers from other clubs before making any decisions. I, therefore, request that you make known to all Major League Clubs my feelings in this matter, and advise them of my availability for the 1970 season.”
Sincerely Yours, Curt Flood.
Kuhn refused to tear down the wall. Flood lost, and the Supreme Court backed Kuhn. It was another 6 years before free agency came into existence. Still, it was Flood’s valiant effort that set the ball in motion. We may say, I think, that apres la démantélement, la deluge. At the height of his career in the 60s, Flood reached a salary of $90,000. Today, baseball has a minimum salary of $400,000.
If you are a johnny-come-lately to the basketball scene, you may think the exploits of Michael Jordan are the most phenomenal in the game’s history. If you do, then get thee to a basketball encyclopedia. Quite clearly, the Big O, Oscar Robertson, is the greatest player who ever donned a pair of sneakers. Why do I care? Mainly, for reasons unrelated to his playing, I am a Big O fan.
Oscar Robertson is more than the Babe Ruth or Jackie Robinson of his sport. He is also the Curt Flood of basketball. From the sociological perspective, Flood and Robertson tower above the rest. Without these two men, who knows what playing conditions (and salaries) might be to this very day?
Within only one year of the Flood suit in 1970, Oscar Robertson sprung into action. He sued the National Basketball Association in order to end the option clause that bound a player to a single NBA team in perpetuity, to end the NBA’s college draft binding a player to one team, and to end restrictions on free agent signings. The suit also sought damages for NBA players for past harm caused by the option clause.
Oscar’s highest salary was $250,000 which, in my view is about as high as anybody ought to have (not just athletes) but the fact is that, in consequence of Robertson’s successful effort to challenge the salary structure, the minimum salary for a second year player in the NBA today is $762,000. Many players top $12 million ($1 million per month). It is all either to Oscar’s credit or fault.
Flood took up painting in later life, losing all interest in the baseball game and succumbed to cancer at about age 70. Robertson lives on, and has statues celebrating him in Indianapolis and Cincinnati. (He was not only the greatest professional player of all time but the greatest college player and the greatest high school player.) His interests today are in woodworking and philanthropy but he has a special seat reserved for basketball games at the University of Cincinnati.
He laughs at fame and shuns autograph seekers. He claims to be a very dull person who knows nothing of scandals. He is still married to his high school sweetheart. 13 years ago, he donated one of his kidneys to his 33-year old daughter who was suffering from lupus. He is deeply involved in charitable causes and owns a major chemical company in Cincinnati. On June 9, 2007, Oscar received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Cincinnati for both his philanthropic and entrepreneurial efforts. Nothing was said about his basketball prowess. All hail The Great One, arguably the finest and most important person in the history of sport. No other athletes who might challenge Oscar for the honor of being the greatest performer in the history of his sport has made such an indelible impression away from his game.
