KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Back when Bob Kendrick became president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo., he would reach out to visiting teams if they would like to take a tour of the facility.
As the years passed, the teams are now the ones reaching out. That includes the Pirates, who for the second year in a row had coaches and players tour the museum during their road series against the Royals.
“The fact that they wanted to come back again, it means a great deal,” Kendrick was telling me.
Derek Shelton has frequented the museum multiple times throughout his career, first with the Rays when David Price invited him to go on a tour after the 2012 season.
Each trip has been special since, especially now that Shelton has a deeper understanding and appreciation of Pittsburgh’s place in Negro League history.
“For our guys to be able to go out and see a little bit about of the history and culture of the Negro Leagues, especially because of how important it is in Pittsburgh, with the teams that we had and the players that we had there and Josh Gibson being there, it's really important,” Shelton said.
That history ranges from legendary players like Gibson and Buck Leonard, to press like The Pittsburgh Courier newspaper and some of the greatest teams in the history of baseball, the 1931 Grays and 1935 Crawfords. It's still felt today, with the Pirates and the Josh Gibson Foundation spearheading a campaign to put the slugger's name on the Most Valuable Player Award.
“The city of Pittsburgh is as rich as any city as it relates to its black baseball history,” Kendrick said. “Some of the greatest baseball players of all-time called Pittsburgh home. That’s something that we are really proud of.”
Those 1935 Crawfords had four players reach the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame: Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston and Judy Johnson. The Grays had six: Gibson, Charleston, Satchel Paige, Smokey Joe Williams, Willie Foster and Jud Wilson. The only other team in baseball history with six Hall of Fame players on a roster were the Murders’ Row 1927 and 1928 Yankees.
“I would have loved to see either one of those clubs go up against the ‘27 Yankees,” Kendrick said. “It would have been theater at its best.”
It is easy to lose track of time talking to Kendrick, whose immense love, appreciation and knowledge of this chapter of baseball history overflows when telling those stories. It’s why, in just the two days the Pirates were in Kansas City, he did the Pirates tours, used his celebrity for a charity event with the Royals and appeared on ESPN’s broadcast of the Monday night game.
That enthusiasm is only increased when he begins to talk about legends like Buck O’Neil, Paige or Charleston, the last of whom was suggested by Shelton to bring up in conversation. Kendrick made a compelling case for why Charleston was the greatest ball player of all-time, even more so than the great Willie Mays. One that isn't really done justice by trying to transcribe his words.
To focus on one point of the five-tool player's game: Charleston once led the league in batting average, hits, homers, doubles, triples and stolen bases in the same year. No modern era player can claim that besides him.
The centerpiece of the museum is a baseball diamond with statues of the greatest players in the league’s history at their position. It’s the former Gray and Crawford Charleston, not Cool Papa Bell, in center field, even if he doesn’t have the same recognition.
“People are doubtful because they didn’t get to see him, which is the plight of the Negro League players,” Kendrick said.
And it’s what makes preserving their history so important, especially since it came to a bittersweet end after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. That sparked one of the greatest influxes of talent in Major League Baseball history, but at the cost of the Negro League teams losing their best players.
But the point of the museum is not to weep. It is a story of triumph and conquest. One where baseball played a role in the national eye of ending segregation and sparking the civil rights movement.
“You won’t let me play with you? I’ll go out and create my own,” Kendrick said about the beauty of the leagues. “There’s something very American about that spirit.”
It’s that theme of determination that makes it such a joy for Kendrick to share those stories with players.
“They have a bond that they share with these players from the negro leagues, and it’s simply a love of the game,” Kendrick said. “You play this game because you love, and there’s no greater example of love of the game than when you walk through the Negro Leagues Museum. They had to love it to endure the things they had to endure just to play baseball in this country, and to a player that walks into this museum, that is not lost on them.”
That message rang true with the Pirates in their visit.
“To hear some of our guys say,'I can't wait to bring my dad back here,' that made it all worthwhile for me,” Shelton said.