NLBM president, NBRP director swap stories at All-Star DEI panel

SEATTLE — A poster on the market within the present store on the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City reads, “440 feet is 440 feet no matter what color your skin is.”

It’s an applicable spot to convey a strong that means, Bob Kendrick mentioned, as a result of the Negro Leagues compelled the subject of integration not solely in baseball however within the nation as nicely.

“[Social progress] does not happen without the Negro Leagues,” mentioned Kendrick, the president of the museum. “And, of course, the great city of Kansas City, who gave America arguably its greatest hero in Jackie Robinson.”

Together, the historians and advocates swapped tales of discrimination and triumph in opposition to it that have been each heartwarming and heartbreaking throughout MLB’s hour-long “unfiltered” panel discussion entitled “NLBM & JACL: Baseball: A Historical Perspective.”

While completely different circumstances united the boys on the platform in entrance of baseball followers from across the nation — Kendrick started his motion 30 years in the past as a volunteer on the museum; Nakagawa was impressed to make a distinction as a part of 5 generations of baseball involvement in his household — their tales typically intertwined and paid homage to 1 one other.

Their mission is identical as nicely: carry consciousness and training to the contributions African American and Japanese American gamers — and actually, these of any coloration — made to the sport of baseball.

“I think baseball has always been a healing agent,” Nakagawa mentioned. “It reveals you that it doesn’t matter what religion we belong to, what coloration our pores and skin, we’re all linked by means of humanity and thru this excellent sport.”

Fans in attendance have been handled to lesser-known tales, similar to Kendrick’s retelling of how boxing legend Joe Louis received Jackie Robinson into officer faculty within the army, and Nakagawa’s story of the bond between Shig Takayama and Robinson when the 2 have been teammates at Pasadena Junior College in California in 1937.

As Nakagawa recalled, Pasadena traveled to play San Francisco JC and stopped in Fresno after the sport to remain the night time. The proprietor of the lodge refused to let Takayama and Robinson keep within the lodge, so their coach started handy again the room keys. The man recanted, saying he had a room for the duo in spite of everything.

The two gamers arrived at their room on the highest flooring of the lodge, which was a small utility closet with two cots shoved into it, barely sufficient area for each males to suit, with a naked lightbulb hanging overhead.

“I remember Shig telling me, ‘We were both sitting there, and I said, ‘Good night, Jackie,’ and Jackie said, ‘Goodnight Shig,’ and Jackie went to cut the lightbulb light out, and Shig told me that he looked up and he could see the moonlight as Jackie turned, and there were tears coming down his cheek,’” Nakagawa mentioned.

Kendrick and Nakagawa additionally highlighted some little-known gamers, similar to Raleigh “Biz” Mackey, whose declare to fame was instructing a 15-year-old Roy Campanella to catch, and Kenichi Zenimura, who “built a Field of Dreams everywhere he went.”

The panel wasn’t restricted to Black and Japanese gamers; the boys additionally touched on two Hall of Famers: Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente and Martín Dihigo, the Cuban-born Hall of Famer nicknamed “El Maestro” who’s the one baseball participant in historical past to be inducted into halls of fame in 5 nations (Mexico, United States, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Cuba).

“The thought that the color of one’s skin can dictate whether or not they can play this game created this misnomer,” Kendrick mentioned. “… Our museum is about dispelling these misnomers, these stereotypes. It’s so prevalent in guiding our mindset about individuals, and it’s wonderful by means of the lens of those brave athletes who overcame super social adversity to play the sport that they love.

“Our guests walk away with a much deeper, richer appreciation for the true value of diversity, equity and inclusion, and why they were indeed pillars toward building a bridge for tolerance and respect.”