One Man Out

“A brief but enjoyable and sympathetic analysis both of Flood the man and of the lawsuit bearing his name.”–Review of Politics

“One Man Out presents the legal history and analysis of Flood v. Kuhn in a way that laypersons can understand. Anyone interested in this case will find Goldman’s book a quick read and an invaluable resource.”–Nine

“A fun, informative read at the intersection of law and sports. It tells the story of the struggle to end America’s last remnant of indentured servitude–baseball’s reserve system, whereby once a major league club signed a player to a contract, the player was prohibited from negotiating for a better contract with other clubs. The legal side of the story shows the history of baseball’s autonomy as a business from legal regulation on both the state and federal levels. In the meantime, the reader gets a view of baseball’s legendary place in American culture.”–Choice

“An enjoyable and insightful account of a dark period in baseball history… . Goldman portrays Curt Flood realistically, as a man with both amazing professional skills and personal demons… . Overall, this book is appropriate for the personal libraries of baseball fanatics and for academic libraries that support sports law programs or that maintain extensive collections of famous trials.”–Law Library Journal

“Goldman provides a nice review of the Flood court case as well as a description of Flood’s personal life. A short, albeit comprehensive review of the man and the court case that would eventually lead to significant changes in baseball, including the end of the ‘reserve clause’ and MLB’s antitrust exemption.”–Library Journal

“Goldman’s reconstruction of Curt Flood’s challenge to baseball’s reserve clause is a winner! He not only offers a highly readable account of the case itself and its main protagonist, but also provides abundant insights into a watershed moment in the history of race and the labor-management relationship in America’s National Game.”–Benjamin G. Rader, author of Baseball: A History of America’s Game

“Goldman’s readable and insightful book makes a significant contribution to the literature about baseball and the law. Curt Flood was a great hero in the struggle for players’ rights, and Goldman paints a nuanced portrait of the man and his cause.”–Roger I. Abrams, author of Legal Bases: Baseball and the Law

Robert M. Goldman is a professor of history in Richmond, Virginia, and an avid baseball fan. He is the author of Reconstruction and Black Suffrage and ““A Free Ballot and a Fair Court”“: The Department of Justice and the Enforcement of Voting Rights in the South, 1877-1893.