Not your typical holiday newsletter

Gold Glove-winning center fielder Curt Flood takes the first step toward free agency in baseball 54 years ago today as he sends a letter to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn to say he refuses to accept a trade from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies.

In doing so, Flood challenges baseball’s so-called “reserve clause," arguing that he is not chattel to be bought or sold from one team to the next.

Flood sits out the 1970 season, effectively ending a distinguished career that may have led to an eventual induction into the Hall of Fame as a player.

Flood briefly returns in 1971 with the Washington Senators but, by then 33, he is out of shape and quickly out of the game – this time for good.

While Flood’s case eventually is rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, his actions eventually lead to modern free agency in 1976 and untold hundreds of billions – yes, that is billions with a “b” – being paid to free agents over the ensuing 40-plus years.

“(Flood’s) challenging the reserve clause was essential to the blossoming sport we have today,” free-agent pitcher Gerrit Cole says in 2019 after signing a nine-year, $324 million contract with the New York Yankees.

“I just think it’s so important that players know the other sacrifices that players made in order to keep the integrity of the game where it is,” Cole says, “and so I hope everybody has that conversation about Curt Flood.”

A copy of Curt Flood’s letter from 54 years ago now is found in the Hall of Fame