Hunt and Peck

Put Curt Flood in the got dang Hall of Fame already - A Hunt and Peck

why hasn’t this happened yet?

By lil_scooter93 Dec 30, 2019, 2:00pm EST

Most baseball fans — particularly Cardinals fans — know Curt Flood. For twelve seasons he donned the Birds on the Bat playing excellent centerfield defense. In 1969 the Cardinals traded Flood to the Philadelphia Phillies. From there, the rest is history.

The short version is Flood did not report the Phillies and filed a lawsuit against the Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Major League Baseball. The lawsuit went to the Supreme Court who ruled in favor of Major League Baseball. Flood lost his lawsuit and his career in baseball.

In 1975 the Reserve Clause was abolished and free agency was established. The Curt Flood Rule, also known as 10-5 rights, was also created, allowing players that have accrued ten years of major league service time and played for a team for five consecutive years are effectively given a No Trade Clause. Congress adopted the Curt Flood Act in 1998 subjecting Major League Baseball to the same antitrust laws other businesses must follow.

Because of Curt Flood, major leaguers now have a system that gives them more control over where they play. Players now have the ability to enter free agency and can veto trades. Flood knowingly sacrificed his career so future players might have it better than he did. No matter what a player accomplishes on the field, nothing can compare to what Curt Flood did for baseball. The man is a legend. Major League Baseball needs to put him in the got dang Hall of Fame.

His rebellious act led to free agency. Now, Curt Flood's children want him in the Hall of Fame | CNN

Baseball’s Hall of Fame cannot be complete without Curt Flood | The Washington Post