Please sign this petition to demonstrate your support of the late Major League Baseball (MLB) player, Curt Flood’s election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Flood, a former St. Louis Cardinals center fielder, won seven consecutive Gold Gloves between 1963-69, and he was a three-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion during his 12-year stay in St. Louis. Flood was known as perhaps the best defensive outfielder of his generation – one that crossed paths with the likes of Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente.

As respected and as great as he was as a player, Flood’s greatest impact on Major League Baseball came in 1970, when he dared to challenge the authoritarian control of team owners. Putting his own career at risk to help future generations of players, Flood took on the deep-pocketed baseball owners, and challenged a near-century old clause in the contract of all players that owners thought gave them the right to hold onto a player for as long as they wished. Players felt powerless over what was known as the “Reserve Clause.”

Flood took his case against MLB all the way to the Supreme Court, where, unfortunately, he lost his battle – but fired the first serious shot that helped his peers win the “war.”  Although his stand for professional justice cost him his career, Flood helped inspire other players to continue to fight for the right to free agency, which they finally achieved in 1976.  The rest, as they say, is history!

Please show your support of this courageous Hall of Fame pioneer by signing the petition.