Ezra Edelman’s third documentary, The Curious Case of Curt Flood, is airing on HBO throughout July and early August.

Flood’s unsuccessful Supreme Court challenge of baseball to end its “reserve clause” helped lead to opening up the sport to free agency. He spent most of his career with the Cardinals and played for the Washington Senators for 13 games before retiring from the game in 1971.

Edelman has worked at HBO for the last decade. His first film was The Ghosts of Flatbush, which won an Emmy. His second was Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals, which won a Peabody Award.

Adapted from a story by Thomas Heath in the Washington Post’s online Capital Business, July 17, 2011.