FOR PLAYER RIGHTS, FOR CIVIL RIGHTS,

CURT FLOOD WAS RIGHT FOR THE GAME.

HE BELONGS IN THE HALL.

Curt Flood played his last Major League Baseball game on April 25, 1971. It’s been 50 years. His impact can now be seen across all sports, laying a foundation for all players who followed.

ELECT BASEBALL PIONEER CURT FLOOD 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.

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SHOP 108 STITCHES FLOOD THE HALL TEE

Flood’s career-ending social stance served as the inspiration behind the advent of free agency and several collectively bargained benefits for athletes in all professional sports. Changes that allow today’s players, and the teams for which they play, the opportunity to share in revenues that fifty years ago seemed unimaginable.

As a St. Louis-based company, 108 Stitches is proud and excited to be doing its part to help promote Curt Flood’s election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and to preserve his legacy as a champion for human rights and the rights of athletes in all sports.

Most of Floods many on-field accomplishments are well-known by older baseball fans. However, perhaps less known is the fact that Flood was also a gifted artist. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Flood gave a portrait of King to King’s widow, Coretta. Years later, Mrs. King presented it to President George W. Bush to hang in the White House.

Upon being traded from the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies in October 1969, Flood resented the fact that the rules at the time prevented him from having any input into where he would play. So, on Christmas Eve of that year, Flood, fully aware of how it might jeopardize his career and reputation, courageously sent a letter to MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, that stated, in part:

“After twelve years in the Major Leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. … I believe I have the right to consider offers from other clubs before making any decisions. I, therefore, request that you make known to all Major League clubs my feelings in this matter, and advise them of my availability for the 1970 season.”

Kuhn rejected his request, thereby inspiring Flood to undergo perhaps the greatest personal sacrifice and social stand the sport world has ever witnessed – before or since.  

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SHOP 108 STITCHES FLOOD THE HALL TEE

Flood, backed by the Major League Baseball Players Association executive board and its Executive Director, Marvin Miller, sued Major League Baseball in an effort to challenge the sport’s restrictive Reserve Clause – which teams used to keep players under contract for as long as the teams desired. Flood, fully aware that by suing baseball he was likely initiating the beginning of the end of his own career, was inspired to challenge the system to help improve the lives of future generations of baseball players, if not his own. Flood’s first trial began in May 1970 and, after suffering two lower-court losses, he took his case all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Unfortunately, on June 19, 1972, the Supreme Court ruled against him, by a vote of 5-3.

Flood’s legal battle against Major League Baseball cost him the entire 1970 season. While in the midst of his court proceedings, the Washington Senators acquired his rights and signed Flood to a contract for the 1971 season. With the distractions mounting, Flood managed to play just 13 games for the Senators and he left the team on April 26, bringing to a disappointing and bitter end a 15-year career as one of the game’s most respected and gifted players. In his last game, April 25, 1971 against the Milwaukee Brewers, Flood walked in one plate appearance as a pinch hitter, in the Senators 3-2 victory at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.

Although Flood lost his personal battle against the injustice of the reserve clause, his career-ending personal sacrifice helped create the momentum that propelled professional athletes in all sports to gain important life-altering changes through the collective bargaining process, including, but not limited to, free agency.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

SIGN THE PETITION AT CHANGE.ORG

WEAR YOUR VOICE

SHOP 108 STITCHES FLOOD THE HALL TEE