March 1, 2007

FLOOD, MILLER STILL DESERVE TO BE IN BASEBALL’S HALL OF FAME

       Four years ago I wrote a column denouncing the veteran’s hall of fame induction committee for failing to look past their self-absorption and take in the big picture.  Both former player’s association leader Marvin Miller and former St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Curt Flood once again failed to be voted into the Hall for their contributions to the game.  I think this is an outright atrocity and I believe the voters should be barred from ever offering their opinion.  I can’t express my disgust any more deeply than I did four years ago, so I thought my new readers would enjoy viewing it for the first time.   The column originally appeared on my website, The Fan View, on March 10, 2003.  I hope that in revisiting this column it will stimulate others and perhaps one day a difference can be made.  Enjoy.         

       The veteran’s committee recently decided not to vote anybody into the baseball hall of fame; a decision that proves the entire process is woeful and myopic.  Those that have been involved in or have been around the game their entire lives insist that there is more to the game than the statistics in a box score.  If so then what is their reason for ignoring the men who contributed to the game in ways that went far beyond the simple task of driving in runs or striking people out.  Marvin Miller, for one, was an integral figure in the game’s major shift from being a business of indentured servitude to a free enterprise system.  He should be in the hall.  And if it wasn’t for one player’s courage to challenge baseball’s reserve clause the players of today may never have experienced the freedom that they now take for granted.  Curt Flood should already be in the hall of fame, and the fact that he isn’t casts a long and serious shadow over Cooperstown.

             When Curt Flood balked at his trade from St. Louis to Philadelphia in 1969 he began a fight that paved the way for future generations of ballplayers to be able to taste the sweet nectar of freedom.  For a country that values freedom as much as America does it is a travesty that someone who was willing to forsake his career for his beliefs, someone who was willing to fight against injustice, someone who was willing to challenge the system in an attempt to eradicate a century old provision that bound players to his team like a slave, has not been honoured for his effort.  Flood felt that the trade was “impersonal” and that “being owned in baseball was like being a slave 100 years ago.” Flood petitioned Commissioner Bowie Kuhn saying that he deserved to be declared a free agent.  His request was denied.  Flood then filed suit stating that baseball had violated the nation’s anti-trust laws.  The District Court, the Court of Appeals and finally the Supreme Court all ruled against Flood and upheld baseball’s right to conduct their business as if they were an eighteenth century Georgia plantation owner.       

      The Supreme Court decision was by the narrow margin of 5-3 and left open the opportunity for future negotiations to undercut the strength of the reserve clause.  Later that year baseball owners agreed to salary arbitration effectively eliminating the hated reserve clause.  Five years later pitchers Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith won their court case granting full free agency for the players.  Two years ago Alex Rodriguez signed a ten year $250 million dollar contract with the Texas Rangers.  Thank you Curt Flood.

      Marvin Miller was the leader of the player’s association during the years of major upheaval and his work, not only with Curt Flood, but also with McNally, Messersmith, and the players as a whole, should garner him a place in Cooperstown.  He did more for the game than most players already enshrined.  He fought for their rights and led a group of men, who initially feared the owners, into becoming the strongest union in sports.  Red Barber once said that Miller “changed the construction of the game.”  Reggie Jackson said Miller, “took on the establishment and whipped them.  We’d never have been free agents without him.  Lou Gorman said that no man, not Babe Ruth, not Sandy Koufax, ever had as much impact on the game.   These are the opinions of just a few well-respected baseball men.  The veteran’s committee doesn’t seem to want to hear these words. 

     Curt Flood was a seven time gold glove outfielder and a three-time all-star.  He played 12 seasons and accumulated more than 1800 hits.  If Flood had capitulated, like all players had done before, and simply accepted his lot in life and went to Philadelphia he would likely have finished his career with more than 3000 hits.  There is only one player eligible for the hall of fame who accumulated 3000 career hits and who is not in the hall of fame—Pete Rose.  If statistics are the committee’s sole measuring stick then Flood has nearly enough numbers to warrant inclusion—he certainly wasn’t a marginal player. 

       The United States Congress officially recognized Flood in 1998 when President Bill Clinton signed into law the “Curt Flood law” declaring that the nation’s anti-trust laws apply to baseball.   This leaves just the veteran’s committee, some of whom benefited financially from Flood’s courage, to acknowledge his importance to the game of baseball, and to American society as a whole.  Curt Flood deserves to be prominently displayed in Cooperstown next to the plaques and the busts of the greatest players to ever play the game.  Flood’s contribution to the game is undeniable.  So is Marvin Miller’s. 

      Next year—committee members--vote Curt Flood and vote Marvin Miller for induction into baseball’s hall of fame.  It is their rightful resting place.

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