The Way It Is

The way it is is Curt Flood's story, written with the help of a professional author. He tells about growing up, and his years in baseball, and carefully details why he chose to go to court to fight the reserve clause. Flood knows how much he has achieved and was willing to give up at least a year in baseball to fight for a more equitable system. As it turned out he gave up the rest of his career. Flood's book is not a "tell all" and it left me wondering about his personal life and I don't know all the reasons why he wasn't able to continue to play (he signed a contract with Washington but only played for a short while & then retired.) But the point of the book is political, it is about the treatment of baseball players, and the show more treatment of African Americans, and the ways that those 2 histories combined in Flood to lead him to the courts. I wish that the publisher had reissued this book with an appendix detailing what happened with the case (Flood lost), what happened with baseball (his case was instrumental in doing away with the reserve clause), and what happened with his life & career. show less

Horrible writing style and very self serving. But worth reading if only for the chapter about encountering the segregated south for the first time.

Not perfect, but this is a must-own for any baseball historian.