All-Star outfielder sacrifices career to challenge the reserve clause Dec. 24, 1969 – Curt Flood’s challenge to baseball’s reserve clause officially begins when he sends a letter to commissioner Bowie Kuhn informing him that he will not accept a trade from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies. “I do not feel that I’m a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes,” Flood writes.