This February, Sports Illustrated is celebrating Black History Month by spotlighting a different iconic athlete every day. Today, SI looks back on the legacy of Curt Flood.
Curt Flood was the best center fielder in the game for a good stretch of time. But that's not where his impact was most profound.
Flood helped usher in an era of player empowerment, one whose reverberating effects touch every aspect of professional sports today.
Before Flood, players could not move freely between teams. A century-old reserve clause bound players to a single team, subject to the whimsies of the management of said team.