La Vida Voices: Negro Leagues Museum President Bob Kendrick

I first met Bob Kendrick in 2007 at a Negro League Baseball event organized by Dave Winfield in San Diego. I was instantly drawn to Bob, partially because he was dressed to the nines, but more importantly because he had our entire audience spellbound. The passion, humor and commitment he expressed super-charged the important words he delivered. Few people I’ve met in my world have the love of their job like Bob does as president of the Negro League Baseball Museum (NLBM) in Kansas City.

Winfield had brought Bob and I together to speak about the legacy of the Negro Leagues across Latin America. There in San Diego were Latino players with direct connections to the Negro Leagues: former players Armando Vazquez and Enrique Maroto and also Luis Tiant –whose father had been an ace in the Negro Leagues. I saw then that Bob understood the importance of the Negro Leagues to Latinos, that the Negro Leagues was where over 240 Latinos played while Major League Baseball’s color line excluded black players. He and I bonded over our shared passion for telling the little-known story about Latinos in the Negro Leagues.

As a kid, Kendrick was an Atlanta Braves fan and Henry Aaron was his favorite player. As an adult, Kendrick travels throughout the United States passionately sharing the history of Hank Aaron, Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson and how their shaping of the Negro Leagues helped shape our society. Buck O’Neil, the NLBM founder and legendary Negro League player, helped shape Kendrick’s firsthand knowledge now providing us all with a gift.

Over the past decade, Bob and I have regularly found ourselves together at events and on the speaking circuit.  My love for Latino baseball and culture and Bob’s passion for Negro League Baseball intersect at the nexus of sport and society. We’ve both had the pleasure of getting to know Minnie Miñoso, Tiant, and many more Latinos connected to Black baseball. Their stories became the inspiration for the amazing exhibit “Negro League Beisbol,” about Latinos in the Negro Leagues and Latin America’s importance to African American players during baseball’s segregation to Negro League players.

I recently tracked Bob down to chat about his important work keeping the legacy of the Negro Leagues alive.

Adrian Burgos, Jr: Tell us about what sparked your love of baseball and your career journey to becoming Negro League Baseball Museum president.

Bob Kendrick: My father introduced me to baseball when I was a kid growing up in Crawfordville, GA. So, I’ve been a baseball fan since I can remember. I actually taught myself how to read a box score looking at game results in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

I’m a lifelong Atlanta Braves fan. My all-time favorite player is Henry Aaron, who not-so-coincidentally, is also my favorite and most memorable person I ever toured through the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM). When I graduated from Park College (now Park University, Parkville, MO) in 1985, I became a Kansas City Royals fan as well. Fortunately, one is the National League and the other is in the American League, so I can be fans of both until those rare interleague games when they play each other!

My journey to become president of the NLBM is an amazing story in its own right. Incredibly, I began my affiliation with the NLBM as a volunteer in 1993. That was my first real introduction to a piece of history that I knew little about even though I considered myself to be a baseball fan. That’s also when I met the legendary Buck O’Neil for the first time. Outside of my father and my brother, Fred, no one as had as much influence on me than Buck. He was my mentor and friend and it’s a tremendous honor to continue the work he started when he established the NLBM and then, of course, dedicated the last 16 years of his life to helping grow the institution.

AB: I love that. I also love how the NLBM created the “Negro League Beísbol” exhibit focused on Latinos in the Negro Leagues and, conversely, African Americans playing in the Caribbean and Latin American leagues. What inspired you to create such an exhibit?

BK: The Latino connection to the Negro Leagues is a little known, but profound shared history and legacy. It’s a beautiful story of how two cultures were bonded by baseball which is why we created our acclaimed traveling exhibit, “Negro Leagues Beisbol.” Negro League players were oftentimes the first Americans to play in many Spanish-speaking countries and they were welcomed. They slept in the finest hotels and ate in the finest restaurants that those countries had to offer. Those players would then return to the United States and be treated like second-class citizens. In those Spanish-speaking countries, they weren’t Black baseball players, they were just baseball players.

For those dark-skinned Latino and Afro-Caribbean baseball players who wanted to play baseball in this country, they too were shunned by Major League Baseball and found sanctuary playing in the Negro Leagues.

AB: This is clearly a sweet spot for both of us, so I’m curious what current or retired Major Leaguers regularly visit the museum. Who are the favorite Latino visitors you have hosted? Why should Latinos see the Negro Leagues as part of their story in baseball?

BK: I’ve been so fortunate to play host to a number of legendary Latino players both current and retired. It’s been an absolute joy to spend time with legends of the game like Luis Tiant and Tony Oliva (in my opinion, both should be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame) and my friend, the great Orlando Cepeda. And, of course, my dear friend, the late, great Minnie Miñoso, who I dedicated our “Negro Leagues Beisbol” exhibit to after he passed away in 2015.

It’s important that the NLBM help Latinos understand that is their story too.

It’s a shared history and legacy. Had it not been for the courageous players of the Negro Leagues neither African-American nor Latino baseball players would be playing in the Major Leagues.

AB: The Negro Leagues is nearing its 100-year anniversary, which will take place 2020. What are some of the biggest contributions of the Negro Leagues to baseball history? In what ways does the museum strive to share those stories and keep alive that history?

BK: The Negro Leagues literally changed the way the game was played. Whether it was through innovations like “night baseball,” or their innovative style of play that was fast, aggressive and daring, they helped make the game better. But what makes this story so powerful and compelling is that a league born out of segregation would become the driving force for social change in the United States.

The Negro Leagues not only changed the game, it changed the country too.

The NLBM is one of the most important cultural institutions in the world for our work to keep a precious piece of baseball and Americana alive. The pride, passion, perseverance, courage and determination exhibited by America’s unsung baseball heroes serve as a tool of hope and inspiration for many and their legacy plays on at the NLBM.

AB: No doubt, Bob. You’ve moved between the private business sector and the Negro League Baseball Museum. What is it about the Negro League Baseball Museum, its mission, and the community of supporters that drew you back to the NLBM and has maintained your passion for the Negro Leagues?

BK: From the time that I was introduced to the NLBM in 1993, I fell in love with the story and the incredible athletes who made the story. I became engrossed with the history and wanted to learn as much as I could. But, I didn’t want to keep it to myself. I wanted others to know too. It quickly became a passion for me. Even more so after meeting legendary Negro Leaguers like Buck O’Neil and Monte Irvin and hearing the pride they had for being part of a league that forged a glorious history in the midst of an inglorious time in American history. I just wanted to do everything in my power to ensure that the legacy of the Negro Leagues plays on!

AB: Thanks Bob. We appreciate the work you do and let us know about any news you think the La Vida Baseball community will be interested in and we’ll be sure to pass it along. If you’re ever in Kansas City, carve out some extra time to visit the museum. It’s an American treasure.

Be sure to follow Bob on Twitter!

Featured Image: Courtesy Bob Kendrick

Inset Images: Courtesy Bob Kendrick