Visit to Negro Leagues Museum resonates with White Sox group

KANSAS CITY -- A visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is a reminder that the experience is not just about baseball, but truly a lesson in Civil Rights history.

• The Negro Leagues

“As I remind folks, it is triumph over that adversity,” said Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. “That’s what makes this story so compelling, so awe-inspiring to those who come here. They walk away cheering the power of the human spirit to persevere and prevail. It’s seen through the lens of baseball.”

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” White Sox reliever Michael Kopech said. “I only hope that the stories can continue to be told and the history grows more and more.”

Kopech was accompanied by his wife and two of their young children on the detailed tour covering more than an hour. White Sox assistant general manager Josh Barfield, hitting coach Marcus Thames, first-base coach Jason Bourgeois and television play-by-play announcer Jon Schriffen also were in attendance.

The White Sox brought four players from their Amateur City Elite 13/14U baseball program: Brock Hamilton, Colten Jones, Matthew Nabieu and Jordan Terrell. They not only had a chance to hear Kendrick’s enthusiastic, entertaining and informative stories but also were on the field prior to Saturday’s game at Kauffman Stadium and then watched the actual American League Central matchup.

“This experience is great,” Nabieu said of visiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. “It showed me what really went on in the Negro Leagues and what the MLB was built off of. It showed that everything was not made in the MLB. It was maybe taken from the Negro Leagues.”

“Not everybody gets to have something like this. The fact that I get the chance to have this opportunity is really good,” Hamilton said. “It was a blessing.”

The museum is located about 10 minutes from the Downtown/Country Club Plaza area of Kansas City and approximately 10 minutes from Kauffman Stadium, so it resides in the perfect location for a visit prior to a game. The detail and the depth of the featured exhibits is impressive, capped off by the Negro Leagues Field of Legends, with 13 life-sized bronze statues of the great players positioned on the diamond as if they were playing a game.

Kendrick’s guided tour added an extra emphasis. He shared stories of Jackie Robinson, noting that baseball may not even have been the best of the many sports in which he excelled -- something White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf is fond of citing as well. He spoke of Cool Papa Bell and Satchel Paige, who retired at 59 but might have been 10 years older at the time.

“Hearing story after story about Satchel Paige … I didn’t know he could potentially have been older than I thought when he played, which is crazy to think about. That’s mind blowing,” Kopech said. “It’s hard to pick a favorite. Seeing the lockers, how much memorabilia there is, all the signed balls. It’s really cool.”

“Just hearing the stories and some new exhibits up from last time I was there,” Barfield said. “The biggest thing is hearing Bob share the history of the Negro Leagues and the players who are a part of it. I could listen to him tell stories all day.”

Countless dignitaries have toured the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, with Kendrick mentioning Colin Powell and Oscar Robertson as just a few he has taken through the exhibits. The White Sox have been involved with the Museum for many years, beginning with Reinsdorf.

When this version of the Museum opened in 1997, Kendrick remembers Reinsdorf seeing a picture of the great Sam Hairston and becoming “very emotional.”

“He loved Sam Hairston,” Kendrick said. “It never gets old to me whether I’m sharing the stories with Major League athletes, current and past, athletes from any sports discipline. But this means a little extra because it is the White Sox and how close the White Sox have been and how supportive the White Sox have been to the Museum through the years.

“To be able to have kids from the ACE program here is not the first time, but it’s always significant. I hope they take something away from this that will drive them as they continue to play this game.”