On October 7th, 1969 one of major league baseball's most famous trades occurred when four Phillies players were traded for four players from the Cardinals organization. What was controversial about the trade?

McGruff

In an act that Curt Flood felt was 'impersonal,' the Cardinals traded him, Tim McCarver, Byron Browne, and Joe Hoerner to the Phillies on October 7, 1969, for slugger Dick Allen, Cookie Rojas, and Jerry Johnson. (Can only find three players on the other side of this trade.) Flood balked at his trade to Philadelphia and fought the reserve clause. He asked Commissioner Kuhn to declare him a free agent, and was denied. He filed suit on January 16, 1970, stating that baseball had violated the nation's anti-trust laws. The case went to the Supreme Court, with former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg pressing his case. The Supreme Court upheld the District Court and Court of Appeals rulings favoring organized baseball. http://www.historicbaseball.com/TMS_flood.html Apr 07 02, 1:10 PM