Issue 6: Negro League Players Finally Recognized as Major Leaguers
What Ken Burns and Bob Kendrick told me
Is it altruistic, empathetic, patronizing or just plain overdue?
I’m still wrestling with the irony of it all.
On Wednesday Major League Baseball announced their grand gesture that they will now recognize the players from the Negro Leagues as Major Leaguers.
Luckily I can revert to what I learned about the Negro Leagues from when I spoke with two baseball historians nine months ago. I was writing an article for the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s print magazine.
The topic was how 2020 commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the Negro National League.
The subjects I sought and secured were the award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, and the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Bob Kendrick.
Preceding each interview, I remember admitting to both that I was conflicted. I revealed that I couldn’t decide whether the anniversary was more celebratory or more of a reminder of the adversity.
Without conceding one or the other, Burns and Kendrick would both arrive at the intersection of joy and remembrance.
Steeped in foreshadowing, Burns marveled at how the legacy of some of the best ballplayers in history were often disregarded because they were black.
“We know that perhaps the greatest home run hitter of all time was Josh Gibson. We know that Satchel Paige probably won two or three times as many games as Cy Young, who is the [Major League] leader in wins. ”We know that Cool Papa Bell probably stole more bases than anybody else.”
Kendrick, who has an infectious optimism and encyclopedic recall for the history of the Negro Leagues, spoke of hope.
“I think there is a level of celebration because of what the Negro Leagues gave us. And because of the impact both on and off the field.”
And even though Jackie Robinson breaking into the Major Leagues in 1947 was the beginning of the end for the Negro Leagues, it was with intense pride that Kendrick remembered how polarizing that moment was.
“We took great satisfaction in knowing and showing that, ‘we told you, we knew our guys could play.’”
Thanks for reading!
And if there's ever a topic you'd like to get my thoughts on, or a question you have, please don't hesitate to ask or suggest something.
Until next time...
-Benjamin Block