How we got free agents in baseball

Curt Flood was the best center fielder in baseball and one of the game’s highest paid players. He took the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series three times. Then he got traded to the Phillies. He didn’t want to go. But baseball’s rules said he had no say in the decision. He could either go to Philly or quit the sport. Instead, Flood took Major League Baseball to court. Flood argued that the league should act like any other business and let workers sell their labor to whichever team they liked. But for decades, courts had ruled in favor of the team owners. Curt’s fight would destroy his career and change the sport forever. If you want to learn more about Curt Flood’s story, check out Business History’s original episode . Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life is in stores now. Support: Planet Money+ Listen free: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. Find us on Socials: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok Our weekly Newsletter . This episode was hosted by Jacob Goldstein, Robert Smith and Keith Romer. It was produced and fact-checked by Emma Peaslee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. Thanks to Gabriel Hunter Chang and Ryan Dilley at Business History. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

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How we got free agents in baseball is an episode from Planet Money by NPR.

This episode is 28:51 long.

This episode was published on May 6, 2026.

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