• Loading stock data...
Friday, September 12, 2025
Tuned In is Almost Sold Out! Limited Tickets Remain!

How Do You Keep Negro Leagues Baseball History Alive? Put It in a Video Game

  • For the second year in a row, ‘MLB The Show’ has incorporated stories and characters from the Negro Leagues.
  • The video game has generated a surge in visits and donations to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
Oct 5, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, points to the lettering outside of the museum Tuesday.
Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal via USA TODAY NETWORK

For Bob Kendrick, what started as one of many ways to promote the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum became one of the most impactful during his tenure as museum president. Just don’t ask him to play the game.

“That didn’t go over too well,” Kendrick says on a recent episode of Front Office Sports Today. “The controller has too many buttons. The finger dexterity that these young people have is amazing.”

This is the second season in which the NLBM has collaborated with MLB The Show on a game mode that brings Negro Leagues legends to life. The Storylines series in MLB The Show 24 lets players control stars like Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and Cool Papa Bell. Each comes with a short backstory, narrated by Kendrick. While the scorekeeping of the Negro Leagues was not as meticulous or well preserved as Major League Baseball, a prodigious oral history has filled the gap.

Through MLB The Show, those narratives are reaching a new audience, many of whom have extended their interest beyond the game. 

“We have had scores upon scores of folks who have visited the museum because they saw the museum in the video game, and they wanted to meet the guy who was telling stories in the video game,” says Kendrick, who adds that the museum is seeing a significant uptick in individual donations, along with royalties from the game. 

“Who knew that a video game partnership would be one of the most meaningful, significant things this museum has ever done?” says Kendrick. “It has been almost surreal in terms of the tremendous success.”

The Negro Leagues grew out of baseball’s most shameful chapter: Until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1945, Black people and other people of color were not allowed to play in MLB. While a harsher, more spiteful attitude toward this history would be entirely understandable, Kendrick, like Buck O’Neil before him, focuses on describing what the majors were missing out on through its overt racism.

“Buck O’Neil would say, if he had one game to win and any choice of any pitcher from any era, it would be the legendary Leroy “Satchel” Paige. You might beat him when he was out there messing around. But when he was locked and loaded? Forget about it.”

Behind the old tales of Satchel strikeouts, Gibson moon shots, and Papa Bell stealing home is a story that transcends baseball. The NLBM makes the case that Robinson’s signing with the Dodgers, which occurred 18 years before the March on Washington and a decade before Rosa Parks’s defiant bus ride, was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s a moment in which baseball, which had participated in holding the country back, suddenly pushed it forward.

For a new generation, that history is now part of The Show.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl Rematch Could Set More NFL Ratings Records

Fox will nationally televise Sunday afternoon’s matchup.
Sep 6, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; General view of a Fox Sports camera station before the game between the Delaware Fightin Blue Hens against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field.

Lachlan Murdoch on Fox’s Sports Strategy, FanDuel Plans

The executive calls a forthcoming streaming bundle with ESPN “essential” for fans.
[Subscription Customers Only] Jul 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Real Madrid CF forward Kylian Mbappe (9) reacts after a semifinal match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at MetLife Stadium.

CVC Builds Out Sports Division Amid Crowded PE Market

The firm’s sports portfolio is reportedly worth $13.6 billion.
Sep 10, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; A general view of the main scoreboard at Yankee Stadium during a moment of silence for Charlie Kirk before the game between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers.

Yankees Prepare for Security Chaos With Trump at 9/11 Game, Days After..

The team told fans to arrive three hours early without any bags.

Featured Today

ESPN’s ‘MNF’ Ratings Up 8% As NFL Surges to Strong Start

ESPN posts its second-best Week 1 “Monday Night Football” audience.
Sep 7, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills fans react during the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at Highmark Stadium.
September 9, 2025

As Bills Ascend, Their Next Frontier Lies in Canada

Buffalo and the powerful Canadian entity MLSE come together in a new pact.
opinion
September 9, 2025

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from NFL’s Week 1 Broadcasts

Many viewers decried the addition of ads to “NFL RedZone.”
Aug 23, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) leads the team onto the field for warm ups before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
September 7, 2025

Slow Burn: The NFL’s Private-Equity Era So Far

Three deals have been struck to date. But the league is bullish.

Thunder Favored, but Bettors Backing Pacers Big in NBA Finals

The most bet-on exact series outcome is the Thunder winning in five.
Fanduel
March 4, 2025

FanDuel Retains Sports Betting Crown With $14B in 2024 Revenue

The FanDuel parent company posts big increases in revenue and net income.
May 8, 2025

FanDuel Misses Projections As Betting Favorites Dominate 

FanDuel is hit by customer-friendly betting outcomes during March Madness.
Sponsored

How World Series Champ Dexter Fowler Became a Premier League Team Owner

Dexter Fowler discusses navigating retirement and embracing new roles as an owner & investor.
February 20, 2025

Americans Bet $148 Billion on Sports in 2024, Up 23.6%

Both overall handle and revenue rose by more than 20% last year.
DraftKings app
February 14, 2025

Lawsuit Says DraftKings VIP Program ‘Preyed On’ Gambling Addicts

The company’s being sued for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
August 20, 2024

Beloved ‘Backyard Sports’ Brand Says It Will Relaunch After Decade Hiatus

“Backyard Baseball” was a turn-of-the-century computer hit. 
DraftKings
August 2, 2024

DraftKings Announces Consumer Tax Starting Next Year

The company’s stock fell 5% Friday morning.