finalyear death_date debutyear statvalue finalteam birth_date death_place finaldate image statlabel debutteam name throws caption birth_place debutdate bats position article_title
1971 20 january 1997 1956 .293 1,861 636 washington senators 18 january 1938 los angeles , california april 25 curt flood 58-69 . jpg batting average hits runs batted in cincinnati redlegs curt flood right flood with the cardinals houston , texas september 9 right center fielder curt flood

curt flood

curtis charles flood -lrb- january 18 , 1938 -- january 20 , 1997 -rrb- was a major league baseball -lrb- mlb -rrb- center fielder who spent 15-seasons in the major leagues playing for the cincinnati redlegs , st. louis cardinals , and washington senators .
flood was an all-star for three seasons and gold glove winner for seven consecutive seasons .
he batted over .300 seven seasons .
he led the national league -lrb- nl -rrb- in hits -lrb- 211 -rrb- in 1964 and in singles , 1963 , 64 , and 68 .
he also led the national league in putouts as center fielder four-times and in fielding percentage as center fielder three-times .
flood retired with the third most games in center field -lrb- 1683 -rrb- in nl history , trailing willie mays and richie ashburn .
flood became one of the pivotal figures in the sport 's labor history when he refused to accept a trade following the 1969 season , ultimately appealing his case to the u.s. supreme court .
although his legal challenge was unsuccessful , it brought about additional solidarity among players as they fought against baseball 's reserve clause and sought free agency .
