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May 18, 2021

New Blog Topic: CURT FLOOD AND THE HALL OF FAME

On numbers alone, former Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood does not belong in the Hall of Fame. It’s true that Flood was an excellent ballplayer, a fine defensive centerfielder and one of the stalwarts of the great St. Louis Cardinals teams that went to the World Series in 1964, 1967 and 1968. He also seemed to get better as he aged, hitting over .300 in six of his final nine full seasons, giving him a .293 lifetime mark. But there’s never really been a strong push to get Flood into the Hall . . . except for one thing.

It was Curt Flood who opened the proverbial can of worms that eventually led to the abolition of the reserve clause and free agency for baseball players. Here’s a quick review of what happened. The Cards won the World Series over the Boston Red Sox in 1967, then were upset the next year by the Detroit Tigers. In those two regular seasons, Flood continued to be a star with batting averages of .335 (a career-best) and .301, while playing his usual stellar defense. He rarely missed games and was just 30 years old, having joined the Cards in 1958 at the age of 20 following cups of coffee with Cincinnati the two previous seasons.

Then after the 1969 season, when Flood hit a solid .285, the team dropped to fourth place with an 87-75 record. Those controlling the ball club felt the great run that began in 1964 was coming to an end and decide to do some rebuilding. In October they pulled the trigger on a seven-man trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. One of the players being sent to Philly was Curt Flood. Thanks to the reserve clause at that time, players had no choice when they were dealt. That is until Flood came along. In a move that shocked everyone, the reluctant centerfielder said, flat out, that he wouldn’t go. Here’s how he put it.

“I do not feel I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes.”

Flood held his ground and the trade was made without him. Of course, he couldn’t return to the Cards, so his career effectively ended at age 31 if you don’t count a 40-game attempt at a comeback with Washington in 1971. He took the legal route and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court where he technically lost. But what his refusal to be traded did was put the wheels in motion which eventually led to the advent of free agency in 1976 with Marvin Miller leading the fight. Today, Flood is somewhat a forgotten figure in that fight.

The Hall of Fame, obviously, is essentially for baseball’s best players, though there’s always a debate about who belongs and who doesn’t. But it also includes those who have contributed to the game in other ways, including writers and executives. Even former commissioner Bud Selig was voted in despite the fact that he turned a blind eye on steroid-fueled players because he felt home runs were bringing fans back after the disastrous strike of 1994. But when it comes to anyone who bucked the game, who went against the owners to help the players, well that’s another story. Many felt that Marvin Miller, the father of free agency, belonged in the Hall years ago, some calling it a disgrace that he wasn’t. He was finally voted in last year by the Modern Baseball Era Committee, eight years after his death in 2012 at the age of 95.

But what about Curt Flood? Last week I saw a story by Ken Davidoff in the New York Post that detailed a #FloodTheHall movement to hopefully help get Flood inducted for the sacrifice he made that eventually led to the dissolution of the reserve clause and free agency. Flood, unfortunately, died in January of 1997 at the age of 59, but his widow and son are taking up the fight, which many in baseball feel is a worthy one.

This time it’s the Golden Era Committee that is voting. There will be just 10 candidates chosen and if Flood makes it to the ballot he’ll need 12 of the 16 total votes to be elected. As his son, Curt, Jr., told Ken Davidoff, “The timing could not be any better. It’ll be another five years if he doesn’t get on the ballot and is not elected until it comes up again.”

It has now been 50 years, a half-century, since Curt Flood took the field for the last time. Had he not refused the trade to Philadelphia he may have had four or five good years left. But he sacrificed that for something he believed in strongly. Marvin Miller told him he didn’t have a chance to win his lawsuit and even if he won he’d never get a job in baseball again. Flood asked Miller if he continued the fight would it benefit other players. Miller said, “I told him yes, and those to come.”

And it did. Today most baseball players who last just a few years in the league can retire as millionaires. The top players are multi-millionaires many times over. In fact, when the Yankees Gerrit Cole signed his huge, nine-year, $324 million dollar contract he made it a point at his introductory press conference to thank Curt Flood – and others who fought baseball on the side of the players – for their efforts. And, without a doubt, it was Flood who made the biggest sacrifice of them all.

Does Curt Flood belong in the Hall of Fame? If he hadn’t refused the trade and played another five years or so, he may well have been one of those candidates debated about for years and eventually elected by one of the various committees voting on older players. As it stands, he was a fine player who gave up those final years for a principle that he held near and dear. The result was free agency and it soon spread to the other major sports.

So does he belong in the Hall of Fame? I would say he does, right alongside Marvin Miller. And today’s players, and those to come, should never forget him.

Bill Gutman

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