KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals have donated $10,000 to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in support of a Buck O’Neil centennial celebration.
The museum is attempting to raise $100,000 for the museum and the future Buck O’Neil Education and Research Center, named after the late Negro Leagues star who would have celebrated his 100th birthday on Sunday.
O’Neil, who died in 2006, spent most of his career with the Kansas City Monarchs. He later became the first black coach in the major leagues when the Chicago Cubs hired him in 1962.
He spent his later years helping to establish the museum, traveling the world to spread the story of black baseball.