Good read in John Hadley's Newsletter. Makes a real good point.
Friday, December 19
JUST SAYING...
10
43 CST CURIOSITY: I would listen with great interest to Curt Flood's take on the A-Rod situation.
More than 30 years ago he took a stand that proved the phoenix of strength for the MLB Players Association by fighting the league's reserve clause.
The foundation of his stance was player's rights for freedom of movement. His fight fundamentally keyed the liberation of players leading to free agency. His actions ultimately succeeded thereby catapulting the MLB Players Association into a new universe for player negotiations... culminating in one of the most powerful unions in the world.
The very union he assisted in launching from a pathetic non-factor HAS denied a member movement. No matter how you slice it, the Players Association has denied A-Rod the very freedom that Flood sacrificed his career for advancing player's right.
A few big words, spiced with legal jargon, don't alter the simplistic fact that the union has restrained a player from moving to a desired destination.
I wonder what Flood would say, I wonder what Flood would do, and I wonder how the Players Association could ever again point fingers at owners proclaiming them as "money-hungry" when in essence, this group is denying a player's willingness to alter his contract to garner freedom?
The MLB Players Association has spoken, the words are clear, "We demand freedom of movement and WE will determine the meaning of freedom regarding movement."
Unfortunately, Flood, who passed away seven years ago, is not around to expound about the situation.
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