Roy Blunt: “I want to talk today about Black History Month and, specifically, about Black History Month and baseball. This month…”

“I want to talk today about Black History Month and, specifically, about Black History Month and baseball. This month marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first successful, organized league for professional African-American baseball players. On February 13, 1920, a group of eight midwestern team owners got together at the Paseo YMCA in Kansas City, MO, to form the Negro National League. Before then, these African-American teams had a lot of great players. They barnstormed around the country. They played sort of whomever they could and whenever they could. But in 1920, these eight owners got together and decided that everybody would benefit with more structure in the league, and they established a league to see that we got that structure. In the first 10 years of the league, the Kansas City Monarchs won the pennant four times. As the league thrived, other leagues were formed for African-American players in the South and in the East. Over the years, some of the greatest players in baseball played in the Negro leagues. Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, and Kansas City's own Buck O'Neil played there. There were many others we would recognize who then became part of the major leagues following Jackie Robinson. There are lots of players you will learn a lot about at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City tells this story and tells it well.…”