With the passing of Henry ‘Hank’ Aaron, we look at the legacy of the Negro Leagues.  Bob Kendrick shares his experience with Hank Aaron and the remarkable talent and legacy of Negro League baseball.

The Negro Leagues included several independent baseball leagues that were founded by African Americans between 1920 and 1948. The league produced notable players including Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and Henry Aaron.

Bob Kendrick is the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

(Photo courtesy of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum)

Highlights: 

Bob Kendrick expands on the role of the Negro Leagues and the legacy Hank Aaron. The economic, cultural and social justice aspects of the sport, through the lens of the Black experience is discussed.

Highlights of the interview are included for convenient listening.

• Mourning Hank Aaron (0:00)
• Hank Aaron’s beginnings (1:36)
• Record breaking character (3:48)
• Negro Leagues talent (6:14)
• Decline of African Americans in baseball (9:00)
• Major League Baseball, Negro Leagues statistics, and social justice (13:46)
• Negro League attendance, the economy (18:03)
• The Negro Leagues global influence, Japan (20:12)
• The Negro Leagues family, Ernie Banks (23:15)
• East West All-Star Game (28:44)

Resources: 

• Integration Came At A Cost for the Negro Leagues, April 14, 2020, Major League Baseball https://www.mlb.com/news/integration-comes-at-a-cost-for-negro-leagues
• The Real Story of Baseball’s Integration That You Won’t See in 42, April 13, 2011, The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/04/the-real-story-of-baseballs-integration-that-you-wont-see-in-i-42-i/274886/
• This is why baseball is so white, October 24, 2017, Vox https://www.vox.com/2016/10/27/13416798/cubs-dodgers-baseball-white-diverse
• Co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum speaks at Berry, March 5, 2020, Viking Fusion https://vikingfusion.com/2020/03/05/co-founder-of-the-negro-leagues-baseball-museum-speaks-at-berry/
• Interview with Bob Motley with son Byron Motley, April 20, 2016, The Beat with Mike Wesson https://thebeatmedia.com/episode/negroleagues/
• Negro League Player Association, Cincinnati Tigers http://www.nlbpa.com/the-negro-league-teams/cincinnati-tigers
• ‘Gentle Black Giants’: Diplomacy, sport and Japan’s early love for baseball, June 29, 2019, Japan Times https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2019/06/29/books/diplomacy-sport-japans-early-love-baseball/
• ‘We Are the Ship’ by Kadir Nelson, 2009 https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/we-are-the-ship-the-story-of-negro-league-baseball-by-kadir-nel/