Curt Flood
All the grand work was laid for people who came after me. The Supreme Court decided not to give it to me, so they gave it to two white guys. I think that's what they were waiting for.
But I want you to know that what I'm doing here I'm doing as a ballplayer, a major league ballplayer.
Baseball regards us as sheep.
I'm a human being I'm not a piece of property. I am not a consignment of goods.
It was so difficult for the fans to understand my problems with baseball.
Remember when I told you about the American dream? That if you worked hard enough and tried hard enough and kicked yourself in the butt, you'd succeed? Well, I think I did, I think I did.
I'm a child of the sixties, I'm a man of the sixties. During that period of time this country was coming apart at the seams. We were in Southeast Asia. Good men were dying for America and for the Constitution.
And I'd be lying if I told you that as a black man in baseball I hadn't gone through worse times than my teammates.
Baseball was socially relevant, and so was my rebellion against it.
Customary though it may be to write about that institutionalized pastime as though it existed apart from the general environment, my story does not lend itself to such treatment.
I lost money, coaching jobs, a shot at the Hall of Fame.
I was leaving probably one of the greatest organizations in hte world at that time for what was probably one of the least like, and, by God, this is America.
I was told by the general manager that a white player had received a higher raise than me. Because white people required more money to live than black people. That is why I wasn't going to get a raise.
I'd often wondered what would I do if I were ever traded, because it happened many, many times.
I'll also say, yes, I think the change in black consciuosness in recent years has made me more sensitive to injustice in every area of my life.
If you destroyed the underpinnings of this great American sport, you are a hated, ugly, detestable person.
People try to make a Greek tragedy of my life, and they can't do it. I'm too happy.
The baseball establishment is permissive about revelry.
Whatever I contributed to the unique morale of the Cardinals was part of this growth, and so, of course, was my decision to have it out in public with the owners of organized baseball.
I lost money, coaching jobs, a shot at the Hall of Fame. But when you weigh that against all the things that are really and truly important, things that are deep inside you, then I think I've succeeded.Collection: Jobs
A well-paid slave is nonetheless a slave.Collection: Slave
I am pleased that God made my skin black - but I wish He had made it thicker.Collection: Black
There is no such thing as bragging. You're either lying or telling the truth.Collection: Lying
I'm a human being. I'm not a piece of property. I'm not a consignment of goods.Collection: Pieces
Everybody thinks of baseball as a sacred cow. When you have the nerve to challenge it, people look down their noses at you. There are a lot of things wrong with a lot of industries....baseball is one of them.Collection: Baseball
Dear Mr. Kuhn, After twelve years in the major leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishesCollection: Baseball
The funny thing about these uniforms is that you hang them in the closet and they get smaller and smaller.Collection: Baseball