Grand Slam!
On June 29, 2020, four former United States presidents tipped their cap to the great players of the Negro Leagues, an unprecedented salute to the men and women denied the chance to play in the Major Leagues.
“The players always knew”
Major League Baseball rights wrong, classifies Negro Leagues as major league.
Wednesday, in an acknowledgement of a 100-year wrong, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred announced that baseball’s record books will now affirm that the Negro Leagues were, in fact, major leagues.
“All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations and triumphs against a backdrop of injustice,” Manfred said. “We are now grateful to count the players of the Negro Leagues where they belong: as Major Leaguers within the official historical record.”
The announcement was celebrated by Negro Leagues Museum president Bob Kendrick.
“It’s important to say that the players in the Negro Leagues never needed validation,” he said. “The players always knew they were major leaguers. But this is a very special action by Major League Baseball because it will help us share the story of the Negro Leagues with a new generation. People will finally see Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston and so many other great players in the record books and, we hope, will want to learn more.”
In total, MLB has certified the seven Negro Leagues that played between 1920 and 1948 as major leagues.
The Hammer
Henry Aaron began his career in the Negro Leagues with the Indianapolis Clowns in 1951. He was just 17 years old and so green, they called him “Pork Chops,” because it was the only thing he knew to order off the menu.
He went on to become one of the greatest players — perhaps even the greatest player — in Major League history. But even greater than that was the way he carried himself on and off the field.
Voices of respect
America’s mayors tip their caps
As part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the formation of the Negro Leagues, Mayors from across the country tipped their caps.
From the Sports World
A tip of the cap to those great Negro Leagues ballplayers who paved the way …. from Michael Jordan.
Sunshine on a Cloudy Day
The Temptations — featuring original member Otis Williams along with Mario Corbino, Willie Green Jr., Terry Weeks, Ron Tyson and manager Shelly Berger — tip their caps to the Negro Leagues.
Musical Cap Tips
Out of this world!
Nasa astronaut and Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy aboard the International Space Station tips his cap — with a little help from microgravity — to the men and women in the Negro Leagues who “paved the way to a brighter future.”
From Cooperstown
TipYourCap2020
Today’s Lineup
Around the Horn
Name that fan!
Here, a Buck O’Neil fan tip his cap to the Negro Leagues. He is in his basement bar with pictures in the background of Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, the lineups from the first Negro Leagues World Series and a photo of his wife’s grandfather with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
A Kansas City Salute!
The 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues is being honored across America, but no place more than in Kansas City, where the Leagues were founded at the Paseo YMCA in 1920 and the current home of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Here, Kansas City icon Julia Irene Kauffman tips her cap.
Play Ball!
Bob Motley was not only one of the founders of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, he was also a legendary umpire in the Negro Leagues. He was known for his style, his flair and the way he called a game. He passed away in 2017; his son Byron tips his cap in this warm and touching tribute.
Rob Manfred and Tony Clark
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark come together to pay tribute to the men and women of the Negro Leagues.
