Lawmakers push for Curt Flood's enshrinement in Hall of Fame

WASHINGTON (AP) — Curt Flood's widow has a simple explanation for why her late husband, who is revered by players for sacrificing his career to advocate for free agency, has not been enshrined in baseball's Hall of Fame.

“I think the holdup is that he got on a lot of people's nerves,” Judy Pace Flood said.

Flood has some powerful advocates on his side.

Members of Congress sent a letter to the Hall of Fame on Thursday asking that Flood be elected in December by the next golden era committee. The recognition would coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Flood's defiant letter to baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn in which he wrote, "I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes."

“What Curt Flood did and championed is resonating throughout professional sports for the past 50 years,” Rep. David Trone, a Maryland Democrat who is leading the push for Flood's enshrinement, said at a news conference.

Flood was 31 when he sent that letter on Dec. 24, 1969. He had spent most of the past decade as the starting center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. A three-time All-Star, Flood won seven consecutive Gold Gloves and helped lead the Cardinals to three National League pennants and two World Series titles.

“What a great ballplayer,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican. “When the great Stan Musial was finishing up his career in right field, Curt Flood would play all of center and about half of right so that Stan the Man could still be on the team.”

After the 1969 season, Flood asked the Cardinals for a pay raise. Instead, they traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies. Under baseball's reserve clause, players were fully under the control of their teams.

Flood refused the trade and, with the backing of players'...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Lawmakers-push-for-Curt-Flood-s-enshrinement-in-15090635.php