![]() ![]() The risk was Allen had a reputation as a malcontent. General manager Bing Devine was determined to acquire a run producer and targeted Allen, 27, who hit 32 home runs in 118 games for the 1969 Phillies. The 1969 Cardinals ranked 10th in the 12-team National League in runs scored _ ahead of only the expansion clubs, the Expos and Padres _ and last in home runs. With them gone, being a Cardinal would never mean quite the same thing.” I loved the Cardinals, was proud to be one, and recognized that Curt Flood and Tim McCarver were two of the biggest reasons why. Those two guys struck right at the heart of what the Cardinals had been all about for the past decade. In his 1994 book “Stranger to the Game,” Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson said, “I was sickened by the thought of Flood and McCarver leaving us. With catching prospect Ted Simmons waiting for playing time, the Cardinals were willing to part with McCarver. Louis Post-Dispatch sports editor Bob Broeg noted, “If he can cut down wasted motion behind the plate and get the ball away more quickly, he might reduce the high rate of stolen bases charged against him.” “My technique got fouled up this season because I was pressing.” “There is nothing wrong with my arm,” McCarver said. McCarver allowed the most stolen bases, 64, of any National League catcher in 1969. 260 with 27 doubles in 1969, but had trouble throwing out runners. ![]() McCarver, who debuted with the Cardinals at age 17 in 1959, batted. 285 with 31 doubles in 1969 and won his seventh consecutive Gold Glove Award, the rift between he and Busch remained. (Flood got $90,000 instead.) During spring training, the Cardinals offered to trade Flood and Orlando Cepeda to the Braves for Felipe Alou and Joe Torre, the Atlanta Constitution reported, but the Braves wouldn’t part with Alou and the clubs settled for a swap of Cepeda for Torre. “I would not consider taking even $99,999,” Flood told The Sporting News, and Busch viewed the ultimatum as disrespect. In October 1969, they were deemed expendable for different reasons.įlood created hard feelings with Cardinals owner Gussie Busch in contract negotiations before the 1969 season. He lost his case, but his legal fight led to an arbitrator’s 1976 ruling establishing free agency.įlood and McCarver were core players for the 1960s Cardinals, who won three National League pennants and two World Series titles. Two months after the trade, Flood announced he would challenge the reserve clause in court. He said baseball officials “were entirely incapable of understanding that a basic principle of human life was involved.” Louis.īaseball’s establishment didn’t take Flood’s intentions seriously, figuring the retirement plan was a ploy to get the Phillies to offer him an increase on his $90,000 yearly salary. Orioles scout Frank Lane, the former Cardinals general manager, told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Unless Curt Flood is better than Rembrandt, he’ll be playing for Philadelphia.”įlood, though, was offended by baseball’s reserve clause, which bound a player to a team and deprived him of the right to determine where to work. I felt unjustly cast out.”įlood issued a statement to the media, saying he would retire and focus on being a portrait artist and operating a photo studio in St. In his 1971 book, “The Way It is,” Flood said, “I took it personally. ![]() ![]() 8, 1969, Flood, who had been with the Cardinals since 1957, turned to a companion and said, “There ain’t no way I’m going to pack up and move 12 years of my life away from here. When informed of the trade on the morning of Oct. Louis,” Cardinals first baseman Bill White told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “but I was very surprised to see Flood leave St. “I wasn’t surprised to see Richie go to St. In October 1969, the Cardinals dealt Flood, catcher Tim McCarver, pitcher Joe Hoerner and outfielder Byron Browne to the Phillies for first baseman Richie Allen, pitcher Jerry Johnson and infielder Cookie Rojas. Center fielder Curt Flood wasn’t bluffing when he said he’d rather quit playing than accept a trade. ![]()
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