On this day in 1972 the US Supreme Court ruled 5-3 in favor of former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood in Flood's two-year-old lawsuit challenging Major League Baseball's reserve clause. The Court's decision not only killed the reserve clause, which had previously kept a player tied to one team for the whole of his career unless he was traded or fired, but it also struck down the anti-trust exemption MLB had enjoyed for almost fifty years.

On this day in 1972 the Major League Baseball owners' executive committee held an emergency meeting in Los Angeles to assess the impact of the Supreme Court's ruling in Flood v. Kuhn on their dealings with their players.

On this day in 1972 a five-man arbitration panel was set up to resolve contract disputes between MLB players and owners.

On this day in 1973 1973 MLB's five-man arbitration panel ruled in favor of Curt Flood in a salary dispute between Flood and the Washington Senators, the team Flood had been playing for since the Supreme Court struck down MLB's reserve clause.