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Opinion Baseball Strikes Out with Curt Flood “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by I t’s April and the 2012 baseball season has begun. Time to remember something discon- nected from batting averages and a pitcher’s ERA: the continuous failure—actually refusal—of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame to recognize the contribu- tions of the late St. Louis Cardi- nals outfielder, Curt Flood and the retired Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Player Association, Marvin Miller. This refusal has taken the explicit form of rejecting their nomina- tions to the Hall of Fame itself. Flood and Miller, both together and separately, were involved in ending the indentured servant- like system of the “reserve clause” in baseball, a system that tied an individual player to a spe- cific team for as long as the team owner wanted him. At a tremen- dous sacrifice, Flood (with the support of Miller and the Major League Baseball Players Associa- tion) sued Major League baseball over the matter, with the case going the U.S. Supreme Court. Although Flood lost at the highest level, the publicity of the case and the arrogance of the team owners set in motion a process that result- ed in unraveling of the system. The Major League Baseball Play- ers Association, under Miller’s leadership, brought an end to the reserve clause through their strug- gle with the owners of the teams. Their victory resulted in the intro- duction of free agency, a system from which players have benefit- T RANS A FRICA Bill Fletcher Jr. or Miller. The fact that Flood and Miller dared to challenge the absolute domination of the sport by the owners was a crime for the owners, and one for which Flood and Miller would never be forgiv- en. There are tremendous ironies in the refusal of the Hall of Fame to admit Flood and Miller. One such The fact that Flood and Miller dared to challenge the absolute domination of the sport by the owners was a crime for the owners, and one for which Flood and Miller would never be forgiven ted immensely. Despite the fact that Major League Baseball grew and thrived under free agency—contrary to the dire predictions of the team irony is summarized by the name Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first commissioner of Major League Baseball. He was widely The fact that they challenged the employer class and suggested that the players should have the freedom to bargain—a right for which all workers should be guaranteed—has resulted in a systematic attempt to cast them into oblivion owners—the team owners and many sympathetic sports writers have never forgiven either Flood known for his role in addressing the 1919 Chicago White Sox scan- dal in which eight players were banned from baseball for life (including the famous player “Shoeless” Joe Jackson) for their alleged participation in throwing the 1919 World Series. Landis was applauded by many for sup- posedly cleaning up baseball, but this was also the same Landis who tolerated the exclusion of Black players from Major League Base- ball and, according to many observers of the period, under- mined efforts at desegregation. Yet, Landis, who never played baseball, was admitted into the Hall of Fame a year after his death. Curt Flood died in 1997 and Marvin Miller—God bless him—is very much alive at the age of 95. Both of them con- tributed, in very fundamental ways, to reshaping the sport of baseball. Yet, the fact that they challenged the employer class and suggested that the players should have the freedom to bargain—a right for which all workers should be guaranteed—has resulted in a systematic attempt to cast them into oblivion. We should not let that happen. Maybe this baseball season we need a few million tee-shirts pro- claiming that Flood and Miller must get into the Hall of Fame. What do you think? Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Poli- cy Studies IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2012 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds The Greek Economy’s ‘Austerity Budget’ D imitris Christoulas was a retired pharmacist whose neighbors said he had enormous dignity. At 77 years old, he looked forward to a life. He had saved during his 35-year career and did not expect government to be involved in his pension. But the austerity budget that Greece has imposed on its citizens reduced Christoulas’ pension. So he killed himself after writing in a suicide note that he would rather have “a decent end” than forage thorough garbage to find enough “rubbage to feed myself.” Neigh- bors say he wanted to send a polit- ical message. They say the law-abiding man was a committed leftist who was so meticulous that he paid his condo fees ahead before taking his life. The Christoulas suicide has mobilized many in Greece, some of whom describe his act as one of fortitude, not simply despair. Some describe it as a “political act” because it took place in a pub- lic square during the morning rush hour. Generally, Greece has a lower level of suicide than the rest of the countries in the European Union, but last year suicides rose by 45 percent, giving it one of Europe’s highest rates. Many attribute the increase in suicides to the economic crisis. Anecdotal cases are reported: of the anchor- man who killed himself when his contract was not renewed, and of a man who set himself on fire when a bank foreclosed on his home. The United States is threatening an austerity budget. We are threat- ening, like Greece, to balance the Page 4 The Portland and Seattle Skanner April 11, 2012 B ENNETT C OLLEGE Julianne Malveaux budget on the backs of the least and the left out, of the poor and the needy. We have maintained the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy even though we don not need to, largely right when he railed against Republican values. The most recent statistics show that poverty is on the rise. And even those liv- ing above the poverty line are struggling. Too many Americans live in hardship. The unemploy- ment rate in Greece is 21 percent. The actual unemployment rate in Black America exceeds 25 per- cent. Yet we Americans are docile recipients of our poverty and unemployment. Except for the Occupy movement, there has been We have maintained the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy even though we do not need to, largely because Republicans want to respond to their donors, not to working people because Republicans want to respond to their donors, not to working people. And as I read that the Newt Gingrich health think tank has gone bankrupt, I wonder why this man would dare run for extreme silence about our current conditions. Still, the Christoulas suicide makes me wonder what silent acts of desperation Ameri- cans are experiencing because of economic austerity. How many Many attribute the increase in suicides to the economic crisis President of the United States when has set up a fiscal flim flam house (one of his creditors is his wife). President Obama had it exactly robberies or suicides are economi- cally motivated? How many are unreported because they don’t take place in the public square? How many seniors are actually foraging for food, or lining up at soup kitchens because they don’t have enough to eat? How many young brothers feel that they improve their lives by going to jail where they at least get “three hots and a squat?” How many folks care enough to explore these questions and find answers? Dimitris Christoulas has a bevy of friends who say he didn’t really commit suicide, that killing him- self was a message and an act of protest against the ways that Greece’s financial crisis has an unequal impact on the wealthy and the poor. While killing oneself is an extreme way to protest eco- nomic inequities, it has also been a way to rivet Greece’s attention on the hardships that too many in that country are facing. What does it take to mobilize people in the United States, with unemployment still unacceptably high, with fore- closures still out of control, with too many people managing “underwater” mortgages? What would happen if the economically aggrieved showed up in a public square? Would Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum even pay atten- tion? The Christoulas suicide shines light on the human effects of aus- terity budgets, not just in Greece but also in the rest of the world. We should take heed on his public action, as it is repeated, though silently, behind closed doors. Julianne Malveaux is president of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, North Carolina.
