Even if Curt Flood was just an average ballplayer, but still challenged the reserve clause, his courageous efforts would make him worthy of the Hall of Fame today.
But Curt Flood was a seven-time Gold Glove winner who hit .293 in his career.
No, his on-field accomplishments alone wouldn鈥檛 get (and haven鈥檛 gotten) Flood in Cooperstown. But my point is that Flood鈥檚 baseball accomplishments aren鈥檛 why he should be in the Hall of Fame 鈥 they simply help round out the story of why he should.
Curt Flood鈥檚 fight made baseball history.
Changed baseball history.
Is baseball history.
This is the year. Here鈥檚 why. So, the Hall of Fame used to have the veterans committee. Now it has . Each winter, one of the four committees gets to enshrine Hall of Famers from its era. At the 2021 Winter Meetings, it鈥檚 the Golden Era Committee鈥檚 turn. The Golden Era is classified as 1950-1969. Flood鈥檚 era. This is the chance to right the wrong.
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This is a plea to the 16-member committee, appointed by the Hall of Fame鈥檚 Board of Directors, to put Flood in the Hall for his overall contributions to baseball. Those efforts should be forever revered. He is a builder of modern baseball. Flood鈥檚 story is unique. His sacrifices were singular. He鈥檚 an improbable trailblazer, in that he blazed a trail that baseball deemed un-blaze-able.
After the 1969 season, the former All-Star Flood was traded by the Cardinals to the Phillies. Flood refused the trade, but because of the long-standing reserve clause, he was under team control. He famously wrote a letter to Major League Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn: 鈥淎fter 12 years in the major leagues, I do not feel I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. I believe that any system which produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States.鈥
Flood wanted free agency. He challenged the reserve clause. At age 32, fresh off hitting .285 and winning his seventh Gold Glove, he sat out 1970. He filed a lawsuit against Kuhn. The league shunned him. Many fans were merciless and racist 鈥 Flood received numerous death threats. Without the public voice of any other current ballplayer at the time, Flood fought the system. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court. He lost, but his actions and sacrifices led to victories in due time.
With the unwavering work of Players鈥 Union executive director Marvin Miller, the reserve clause was struck down in 1975 and the ensuing years.
Miller, posthumously, will be enshrined in the Hall this summer.
Flood, posthumously, should be enshrined in the Hall next summer.
鈥淚 just feel like you can鈥檛 tell the whole story of baseball without talking about Flood,鈥 said Eric Ross of the St. 不良研究所导航网址-based apparel company 108 Stiches, which has launched a 鈥淔lood The Hall鈥 campaign. 鈥淗e sacrificed his career. And if you鈥檙e talking about the last 50 years, every player in every sport, not just baseball, owes him gratitude.鈥
Ross grew up in Iowa. His brother was a Cubs fan, so he rooted for the rival. His family would take road trips to St. 不良研究所导航网址 for games.
鈥淚n high school, I had a coach that always gave me different sports books to read,鈥 Ross said. 鈥淚 got the story about Curt Flood from him. And Ken Burns鈥 documentary 鈥楤aseball鈥 on PBS focused on Flood, and that鈥檚 when it really came to the forefront for me 鈥 hearing Flood speak about it. 鈥 He did all this and fell on the sword for every other player that鈥檚 followed after him. The amount of bravery that took! And it鈥檚 not like I鈥檓 from a union family or anything like that. I think it was just knowing that this guy saw something that was wrong 鈥 and did what he could to change it.
鈥淎nd even now, with the new collective bargaining agreement this next year, and all the social injustice talk that鈥檚 going on in sports now, a lot of players are speaking up. And truth be told, I wonder how many players in the league right now know who Curt Flood is? And what he did?鈥
Ross鈥 company has made 鈥淔lood The Hall鈥 T-Shirts and created an online petition at . Ross wants to create awareness and inspire change. And so do others, notably members of congress. They wrote a letter to the Hall of Fame and asked that Flood be elected by the Golden Days Committee.
It鈥檚 understandable that electors in the past struggled with whether or not to vote for Flood. Some of that was likely because they didn鈥檛 believe Flood the player was Cooperstown-worthy. But it鈥檚 not about Flood the player. It鈥檚 about Flood the man. The committee should first look at what Flood did to challenge the reserve clause. As I said, even if he was just an average player, his heroic and lonely fight makes Flood鈥檚 contributions to the game worthy of the Hall of Fame. He changed sports forever. Then throw in the fact that, hey, he was also a pretty great ballplayer.
More poignantly, you could consider just how great he would鈥檝e been if he didn鈥檛 risk it all. He would鈥檝e been 32 in 1970. Imagine if he had played five more seasons. Or 7-8? His 1,861 career hit total would鈥檝e added perhaps 1,000 more hits. Imagine how many more Gold Gloves, too. He risked baseball immortality to fight for morals.
Curt Flood saw that something in baseball was wrong, so he fought for change.
All these years later, something else in baseball is wrong. Curt Flood isn鈥檛 in the Hall of Fame.
Make the change.
On Oct. 7, 1969, The St. 不良研究所导航网址 Cardinals traded outfielder Curt Flood to the Philadelphia Phillies in a blockbuster deal involving slugging first baseman Richie Allen.聽