The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum will get a $1 million joint donation from Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association. The announcement came Wednesday at the museum.
The funds will go not only to support and expand the museum and its programs, but also to try to inspire minority youth to play baseball.
“The Negro League’s history is our game’s history,” Tony Clark, executive director of the MLB Players Association, said.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred first visited the museum in 2015.
“I think it was the beginning of a deeper understanding of the Negro League Museum, the significance of the Negro Leagues to our overall history. So it was an important moment for me,” he said.
In May, Orioles player Adam Jones donated $20,000 to the museum. He had also said he recently dealt with racial slurs from a fan at another ball park. We asked if that incident influenced the decision to make the donation, but officials told us the decision had already been made.
“Timing is everything and we were able to take a negative and shine light on it and open up needed dialogue,” Museum President Bob Kendrick said.
“Honestly, this decision was more related to our desire to rebuild participation of African Americans in the game,” Manfred said.
“The African American participation has not been there and this creates the platform for us to sit there and be at the table to talk about how we resolve these issues, how do we fix this,” Kendrick said.
Part of the donation will also be used to finish the Buck O’Neill Education and Research Center.
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