Congress Aids In Curt Flood’s Hall Of Fame Enshrinement Effort

On the 50th anniversary of Curt Flood sending a letter to MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn with the hopes of declaring free agency, a push for his Hall of Fame enshrinement has begun. Members of Congress have joined the case by sending a letter to the Baseball Hall of Fame petitioning for his approval into the Cooperstown shrine.

Flood spent 12 years of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Flood brought on some controversy when he entered into a legal battle due to his lack of desire to begin a new chapter in Philadelphia. He lost the legal battle and was traded to the Washington Senators. This is one of the main reasons that free agency exists in the form it does today.

Flood’s widow, Judy Pace Flood, addressed her thoughts on the hold up for his enshrinement.

“I think the holdup is that he got on a lot of people’s nerves,” she said.

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Flood’s career before the lawsuit was spectacular. He was a seven-time Gold Glove winner, three-time All-Star and a two-time World Series champion. He abruptly retired in April 1971.

“What a great ballplayer,” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) said. “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.”

Over 100 different members of Congress signed the petition for Flood’s induction.