Notes: Cubs honor Negro Leagues; Javy sits

CHICAGO -- The statue of Ernie Banks that stands outside Wrigley Field honors an icon in both Cubs and baseball history. Not only did Banks ascend to heights of being deemed Mr. Cub, but he broke the franchise's color barrier in 1953.

Banks also became the first Cub to have played in the Negro Leagues -- a list that grew to nine, according to historian Ed Hartig. And on Sunday, the Cubs joined Major League Baseball's league-wide celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues.

“We are really excited about Sunday," Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, told MLB.com's Bill Ladson. "Even though it's not the way that we had envisioned it, with fans being in the ballpark and creating that groundswell of energy in and around this celebration, we have one of the most significant platforms ever to count the richness of the history of the Negro Leagues."

• The Negro Leagues: Complete coverage

All MLB players, managers, coaches and umpires wore a patch on Sunday to honor the Negro Leagues' centennial celebration. The Cubs put together a virtual first-pitch video, featuring Kendrick and Cubs Hall of Famer Billy Williams.

There is a long history of Chicago ties to the Negro Leagues. It was Chicagoan Rube Foster who founded the Negro National League, and the Cubs faced the Pirates in the "Negro Leagues Heritage Game" wearing the uniform of Foster's Leland Giants team.

Hartig noted that there were 26 games between 1942-45 involving Negro Leagues teams played at Wrigley Field during World War II. There were about a dozen Negro Leagues teams that played at least one game in the ballpark. The list included the Memphis Red Sox (11 games), Kansas City Monarchs (10) and Birmingham Black Barons (six), among others.

Booker McDaniels -- a pitcher who played for the Cubs' Los Angeles farm team in 1949-50 -- was the first Negro Leagues player signed by the franchise. Banks was the first Negro Leagues player to play for the Cubs when he debuted on Sept. 17, 1953.

And baseball icon Buck O'Neil became the first African American coach in MLB history when he joined the Cubs' staff from 1962-65.

Day off for Javy
Cubs manager David Ross used Sunday's game against the Brewers as a chance to get Javier Báez off his feet for a day. Ross noted that Báez has been battling a sinus issue, plus the Cubs have five games in three days coming up against the Cardinals.

Besides those two factors, Báez entered Sunday tied with Anthony Rizzo for the most innings played (155) this season for Chicago. The shortstop was also mired in an 0-for-16 slump with a 31.2 percent strikeout rate and 63 wRC+ on the season.

"I've pushed him really hard," Ross said. "Getting him off his feet, getting him kind of a mental reset and getting ready for the games we've got to come, I just felt it was good for him and our team."

Worth noting
• A few hours prior to Sunday's game, Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward was scratched from the lineup due to mid-back tightness. Ross said he would try to stay away from using Heyward in the weekend finale against the Brewers.

"I just don't want to push through -- that didn't make a whole lot of sense," Ross said. "He'll get some treatment, try to loosen it up."

• Right-hander Colin Rea logged 49 pitches in 3 1/3 innings as an emergency starter on Saturday, but Ross may look elsewhere for a starter to work one of the doubleheader games against the Cardinals on Wednesday.

"I would like to keep Colin in the 'pen," Ross said. "I think he's valuable for us down there. But we'll wait and see how things play out."

• Left-hander José Quintana was scheduled to throw a four-inning simulated game at the Cubs' alternate training site in South Bend, Ind., on Sunday.

Quotable
"The guy comes in with a great attitude. He supports his teammates. He's right in the mix on the bench, ready to go. A couple times, I pulled late triggers with him either pinch-running or going in for defense, and he's been ready, has already hit, has already got his body loose. He's been an absolute pro in every sense of the word." -- Ross, on how Albert Almora Jr. has adjusted to a bench role