Missouri Law Review Volume 77 Issue 1 Winter 2012 Article 4 Winter 2012 Curt Flood and a Triumph of the Show Me Spirit James R. Devine Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation James R. Devine, Curt Flood and a Triumph of the Show Me Spirit, 77 MO. L. REV. (2012) Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol77/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Missouri Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Devine: Devine: Curt Flood and a Triumph Curt Flood and a Triumph of the Show Me Spirit James R. Devine* I. INTRODUCTION Curt Flood was not a Show Me State native.I Born in Houston, Texas, in January 1938, the last of six children, Flood moved as a child with his fam- ily to Oakland, California.2 From early on, Flood "was precociously coordi- nated."3 He was able to run, catch, and throw a ball better than much older children.4 He began playing organized baseball at the age of nine in a police league and knew by the time he was a teen that he might make a living at baseball.s Although he was shorter and lighter than most professional ball players, at the age of eighteen, fresh out of high school, in 1956, Flood signed a $4000 yearly contract with the Cincinnati Reds.6 * This Article represents the final scholarly work of James R.