Coming to Terms with Curt Flood

There's been a spate of new books about Flood, now that the pendulum has swung the other way and he's more appreciated. But I'd like to recommend something old. Last week I (finally!) got around to reading an old copy of Flood's The Way It Is, which came out in 1971 when he was in the middle of his legal battles.

It's an uneven, often angry book, and feels slapped together, but parts are very very good. And funny, too. It's franker and in some ways better than Ball Four.

I think the appreciation of Flood was overdue but it's often simplified with a politically-correct gloss, a nicey-nice sort of hindsight. So it's bracing to read something that was written in the heat of the moment.

His views on Musial and Bob Gibson are must-reads. His 60s take on sex and ballpark groupies says a lot about the era and culture without trying to be sensational.

To my surprise, I see that it's out of print and has been for decades, but you can buy used copies on the net for less than a buck. Recommended winter reading.

Thanks krolik. I'll have to drum up a copy. For a slightly different view (from a more legal perspective), I recommend A Well-Paid Slave. Again, not the greatest writing you'll ever encounter, but an interesting take.

I read Flood's The Way It Is years ago and bits of it return to me as I'm reading A Well-Paid Slave.