Congress members push for Curt Flood to be inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame

Over 100 different lawmakers have signed the letter petitioning for Flood to be in the Hall of Fame

Members of Congress sent a letter to the Baseball Hall of Fame petitioning for Curt Flood to be enshrined in Cooperstown on Thursday. Flood has yet to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, despite solid career numbers and his advocation for free agency back in 1970. 

The push for Flood's enshrinement ironically marks the 50th anniversary of Flood sending a letter to MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn in the hopes of being declared a free agent. Flood had previously spent 12 years of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals before he was traded to the Phillies.

"I think the holdup is that he got on a lot of people's nerves," Judy Pace Flood, Curt's widow, told the Associated Press.

Flood didn't want to uproot his life and begin another chapter of his career with the Phillies. Instead, he got into a legal battle in which he ultimately lost and was traded from the Phillies to the Washington Senators. Despite that, Flood is one of the main reasons free agency exists in the form it does in MLB.

"What Curt Flood did and championed is resonating throughout professional sports for the past 50 years," Maryland Rep. David Trone added.

Flood did have a spectacular career up to the point of filing the lawsuit against the MLB. He was a seven-time Gold Glove winner, three-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion from his time with the Cardinals, Senators and Cincinnati Redlegs. Flood ended up leaving the Senators in April 1971 and abruptly retired.

When his career was over, Flood had amassed a .293 career bating average and racked up 85 home runs and 636 RBIs.

"What a great ballplayer," Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt 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."

During Thursday's news conference concerning Flood, players union representatives from the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS were in attendance. Over 100 different members of Congress signed the letter petitioning for Flood to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.