Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Going to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum here in Kansas City, the birthplace of the Negro Leagues, is a humbling experience. In addition to being a memorial to some of baseball's true greats, it is also a testament to a dark time in our country's history. It is unfathomable that players like Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, Roy Campanella, and Ernie Banks were once segregated from their white counterparts into separate leagues, and vastly inferior conditions. Today, we acknowledge what a player can do, not the color of his skin. If only some of the players memorialized in this museum could have lived to see it.

The idea for integration actually began in the late 1800's, but thanks to racists like Adrian "Cap" Anson and his teammates, a handshake agreement was reached that the Major Leagues would no longer try to integrate the leagues... so the experiment was not tried again for another 50 years!

During that time, the Negro Leagues were thriving. Where the Major Leagues were drawing crowds of under 8,000 fans, the Negro League games were frequently attended by more than 15, 000! Night games were first played in the Negro Leagues, too. A powerful night lighting system was invented by a Negro League manager, and first used in Kansas City Monarchs game in 1930 -- 5 years before being used by the Major Leagues in a Reds vs. Cardinals game in 1935.

And you can't imagine the caliber of player you would have seen playing in the Negro Leagues! In the late 1800's, Harry Moorene (?) held a .300 batting average for 15 consecutive years! Louie "Big Bertha" Santory held a .406 lifetime batting average. It is said that, standing on home plate, he could throw a ball over the center field fence, and could hit a ball even farther. Cool Papa Bell was the fastest player ever to play the game. They say he could run the bases in 11 seconds! Josh Gibson holds records that are, to this day, unmatched by any player, black or white. He hit an average of 70 home runs per season, with the farthest being over 505 feet! One home run he hit one-handed! They say he was the greatest player ever to play the game. And, of course, you have heard of Satchel Paige, one of the best pitchers who ever lived. He claimed he could strike out the first 9 batters in any game, and usually did. Willie Mays and Hank Aaron also played first in the Negro Leagues.

Once black players were integrated into the Major Leagues, the Negro Leagues slowly declined until, in 1960, they were completely disbanded. In 1991, Buck O'Neil (who was the first black manager in the Major Leagues) created the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, here in Kansas City. If you are EVER in the area, you owe it to yourself to experience this piece of baseball history. http://www.nlbm.com/