Inner strength, quiet dignity and leadership were traits that defined Andre “The Hawk” Dawson as a superstar player and leader in the clubhouse during a Hall-of-Fame career that spanned 21 years between 1976 and 1996. There were six work stoppages during that period, beginning with a 17-day spring training lockout in 1976 just several months after arbitrator Peter Seitz had struck down the reserve clause and begun the age of free agency in baseball. However, while Players had won free agency rights, they needed to fend off numerous attempts by owners to roll back those rights, including three off-seasons in the late 1980s during which owners joined together to subvert the market-based system for Players’ services they had negotiated with the union. After spending his first 11 years playing for the Expos on artificial turf and aching knees, Dawson elected to become a free agent in November 1987 so that he could play on natural turf. But like other free agents who could without doubt improve another club, he received no contract offers. In March 1987, Dawson called the owners on their collusive activity and informed the Cubs that he would sign for whatever salary they offered. He agreed to a contract that paid him a base salary of $500,000 plus bonuses. Not only did Dawson reward the Cubs with an MVP season in 1987, but his effort to sign a free-agent contract helped the union prove their three grievance cases against the owners’ collusion in the late 1980s that were later combined and settled for $280 million.