Game Thread: Twins @ Yankees, 9/5/22 @ 12:05 PM CT

[IndianaTwin]

Welcome to the Labor Day edition of the Game Thread, as our Twins head to Gotham to take on the Evil Empire. 

And given that it's Labor Day, I'm going to take a quick look at the career of Curt Flood. I grew up with St. Louis as my favorite NL team, thanks to an older brother who was a fan of the Redbirds. I remember Lou Brock and Bob Gibson, but I'm not quite old enough to remember Flood as a member of the team. 

Flood's Wikipedia page lists him as a "baseball player and activist." Folks may know him for the latter, but here's a few tidbits on the former. After all, it wouldn't have been as big a deal to threaten the reserve clause if he wasn't a good player. 

1. Flood was part of a high school outfield that included Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson. I'm no high school sports junkie, but I can't imagine many teams that have ever had an outer garden that talented. All three eventually signed contracts with Cincinnati.

2. Flood got into a handful of games as an 18- and 19-year-old with the Redlegs, but with Pinson's emergence, was considered expendable and traded to St. Louis in December 1957. 

3. He became a mainstay in St. Louis over the next 12 seasons, winning seven Gold Gloves in center and earning three All-Star appearance in helping St. Louis to three World Series appearances. In his final nine seasons there, he generated 39.2 bWAR, an average of 4.4 per season. His best year was 1963, when he posted 5.8. In a time of low batting averages, he hit .302 over the period, playing at least 150 games in seven of the nine seasons. 

4. Defense was his calling card. In addition to the seven Gold Gloves, he played in 226 consecutive games without an error, including the entire 1966 season, accepting 568 total chances along the way. 

5. Flood spent 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot, topping out at 15.1 percent in 1996, his final year of eligibility. He ranks 46th among centerfielders in JAWS, calculated by averaging one's career WAR and the WAR of one's best seven seasons as a way of attempting to balance longevity and peak in quantifying excellence. Only 19 center fielders are in the Hall, so he's well below the cut line, but his JAWS score is ahead of a couple of them and is immediately behind Hack Wilson. It's well above Lloyd Waner, who largely got selected on the coattails of his brother Paul. 

Following the 1969 season, Flood was traded to the Phillies, along with Tim McCarver, Byron Browne and Joe Hoerner, for Dick Allen, Cookie Rojas and Jerry Johnson. Flood refused to report to Philadelphia, citing the team's poor play, crummy stadium and racist fans, who had also been a thorn in Allen's side. In a December 24, 1969, letter to Bowie Kuhn, Flood requested that the commissioner declare him a free agent, naming that he did not see himself a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of his wishes. 

Kuhn denied the request, citing the reserve clause. Flood filed a $1 million suit in January of 1970, likening the reserve clause to slavery. The case was argued in the Supreme Court in 1972, but Flood lost. By this time, he was out of baseball, having sat out the 1970 season while effectively being blackballed from the game. He was bombarded with death threats, with Bob Gibson estimating that Flood received four to five per day. After the 1971 season, the Phillies traded Flood to the Senators, but he played only 13 games in 1972 before retiring. 

Though Flood lost the Supreme Court case by a 5-3 decision, with one justice recusing himself because of owning stock in Anheuser-Busch, owners of the Cardinals, the case was a major factor in the onset of free agency. The players union continued to push against the reserve clause, and it was struck down in 1975. The following summer, players and owners agreed on a contract that opened the doors to free agency. Also implemented was the 10/5 rule, which gave players with 10 years of seniority, including five with their current club, the ability to veto a trade. In 1998, the "Curt Flood Act" revoked baseball's antitrust rule, with some exceptions. 

I personally think that he should get votes from the Veteran's Committee because of his overall impact on the game. It seems that every player who has cashed a check since about 1975 or so should be supporting his induction.

 

And now, on to today's action, which will start with these lineups: 

Minnesota Twins

1. Luis Arraez (L), dh

2. Carlos Correa (R), ss

3. Max Kepler (L), rf

4. Jose Miranda (R), 1b

5. Nick Gordon (L), 2b

6. Gio Urshela (R), 3b

7. Jake Cave (L), lf

8. Gary Sanchez (R), c

9. Gilberto Celestino (R), cf

-- Chris Archer (R), (and others) p 

 

The Evil Empire

1. Gleyber Torres (R), 2b

2. Aaron Judge (R), cf

3. Giancarlo Stanton (R), dh

4. Josh Donaldson (R), 3b

5. Jose Trevino (R), c

6. Oswaldo Cabreral (S), rf

7. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R), ss

8. Tim Locastro (R), lf

9. Marwin Gonzalez (S), 1b

--  Jameson Taillon (R), p

[BH67]

Curt Flood paid the full price for enabling hundreds of multi-millionaire baseball players to follow.  Someone here once clarified the legalities that make such cause and effect less clear, and I appreciated that, but symbolically he took the biggest step.  He belongs in Cooperstown solely on that basis.

[stringer bell]

Well, the Twins are deservedly huge underdogs in New York. It is a long shot that they win the series, but this is why I continue to watch sports. This is not the Globetrotters vs. the Washington Generals. At some point the law of averages will take over and the numbers will regress to the mean. I'm not brave enough to suggest that it will be this week, but at some point the Twins will start winning their fair share of games against New York.

Outside of Judge, this is a team that has struggled big time for quite a while. The Twins are more desperate (tied for the last playoff spot) but I just don't know if the Twins have enough left to beat a competent team. 

[UpstateNewYorker]

Nice intro!  Flood was a key member of those great Cardinals teams from the 1960s. 

There are showers in the forecast in the NYC area today and especially tomorrow.  Tuesday's game might be washed out, so possibly we'll see a DH on Wednesday or Thursday. 

[AlwaysinModeration]

I’m going on record - it’s gonna be a sweep.

[IndianaTwin]

20 minutes ago, UpstateNewYorker said:

Nice intro!  Flood was a key member of those great Cardinals teams from the 1960s. 

There are showers in the forecast in the NYC area today and especially tomorrow.  Tuesday's game might be washed out, so possibly we'll see a DH on Wednesday or Thursday. 

Looking at the hourly forecast, I can’t imagine there WON’T be a rainout on Tuesday. I’d think they’d prefer to go with the DH on Wednesday because of travel, but the possibility of rain goes well into Wednesday. 

[USAFChief]

8 minutes ago, AlwaysinModeration said:

I’m going on record - it’s gonna be a sweep.

Can't agree.

The Yankees will win Cole's start.

[downunder twins fan]

First ever in person game, win Twins!

[AlwaysinModeration]

5 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Can't agree.

The Yankees will win Cole's start.

One could note that you didn’t necessarily disagree with me.

[Winston Smith]

Walk Judge every time he is up to bat.

[IndianaTwin]

Yankees with former Twins at 3B, SS* and 1B.

[IndianaTwin]

I missed if there was an announcement. What’s up with Garlick replacing Kepler in the lineup? 

[Aggies7]

“Worst offensive stretch in Yankees history”

scores in first inning 

[jorgenswest]

I always had hope that Gordon would regain strength and promise after a few years of significant health challenges. I did not imagine that he would be hitting clean up in a meaningful September series against the Yankees.

[IndianaTwin]

Since May 19, Donaldson at .206 with 7 HR and 37 RBIs and a .627 OPS. 

[Aggies7]

3-1 pitch to Urshela, lunges for it and GIDP. In other words, the usual 

[Aggies7]

3 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

Since May 19, Donaldson at .206 with 7 HR and 37 RBIs and a .627 OPS. 

Throw the numbers out the window when these two teams play

[RickOShea]

19 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

I missed if there was an announcement. What’s up with Garlick replacing Kepler in the lineup? 

Kepler's got hip tightness.  Got shelved from line-up about an hour before game.

[RickOShea]

43 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

Looking at the hourly forecast, I can’t imagine there WON’T be a rainout on Tuesday. I’d think they’d prefer to go with the DH on Wednesday because of travel, but the possibility of rain goes well into Wednesday. 

Curt flood was not only a mainstay of some great Cardinal teams, he was one of the best defensive centerfielders in all of baseball.  I saw him play on several occasions and he was a solid star who blended well with other Cardinal stars.  

[Winston Smith]

11 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Throw the numbers out the window when these two teams play

Just make sure the window is open.

[RickOShea]

Bremer just mentioned Byron Buxton.  Now there's a name from the past!  How soon we, or at least I, forget.

[Aggies7]

2 hours ago, RickOShea said:

Bremer just mentioned Byron Buxton.  Now there's a name from the past!  How soon we, or at least I, forget.

Yankees broadcast talked about him for a while

[Aggies7]

Sigh

[AceWrigley]

Carlos Correa comes through in the clutch again . . . not.

[RickOShea]

Speaking of Buxton, I remember seeing Mantle play at Met stadium.  He was playing first base, and infield practice was not pretty for him, as he limped around.  He wore a knee brace that made his knee look doubled in size.  Yet, he pulled himself out to the field or home plate.  You also have to understand he originally damaged his knees early on in his career (ran over a sprinkler head in the outfield).  I guess it's not fair to compare buxton to Mantle, physically, but I just have that imaged burned in my memory.

[Aggies7]

If we can’t beat this terrible lineup the Yankees are throwing out there, I’m not sure we ever can (I know ours is bad too). 

[mrtwinsfan]

23 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

3-1 pitch to Urshela, lunges for it and GIDP. In other words, the usual 

Worse plate awareness !!!!  if he ever learned the strike zone, he has been like this for years

[BH67]

Certain Yankee traditions impress me greatly,like hearing Sinatra at game's end or the late Bob Sheppard's voice introducing Derek Jeter in his final playing years.  But they'd better not have an automatic "THUHHHHHHHH Yankees win!" recording playing after now 84-year-old announcer John Sterling dies - ewwww.

[Aggies7]

And Marwin homers as I finished my last comment. Marwin bleeping Gonzalez. Unreal 

[RickOShea]

That's sickening to see those fly balls to right field go for homers.  It's almost embarrassing for the hitter as they begin their home run trot.  But, a homer is a homer.  I'd take it if a Twin hit it, it just still seems ridiculous.