The Major League Baseball-Major League Baseball Players Association Youth Development Foundation presented a $500,000 grant to the Negro Leagues Family Alliance on Wednesday at the Negro Southern League Museum in Birmingham.
The grant is intended to support the Negro Leagues Family Alliance’s aim to preserve the legacy of the Negro Leagues while strengthening education and well-being by expanding youth baseball participation.
“The Negro Leagues Family Alliance is truly honored to be the recipient of this generous grant from the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation,” said Sean Gibson, one of the NLFA’s founders and the great-grandson of Negro Leagues star and National Baseball Hall of Fame member Josh Gibson. “The YDF’s goals strongly align with our organization’s mission to preserve the legacy of the Negro Leagues and revitalize that legacy by educating the next generation of young athletes. We eagerly look forward to partnering with MLB and the MLBPA in this important work.”
The Negro Leagues Family Alliance is composed of relatives of 10 Negro Leagues players — Bill Foster, Rube Foster, Josh Gibson, Pete Hill, Buck Leonard, Fran Matthews, Mobile native Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe, Norman Thomas “Turkey” Stearnes and Ron “Schoolboy” Teasley.
“We encourage any person with Negro League heritage to reach out to us, join the NLFA and get involved with our movement and mission,” Gibson said.
The donation was announced with Birmingham set to host “MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues” on Thursday night. The event features a National League game between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field to complete a schedule of events intended to spotlight the place in baseball history held by the Negro Leagues and their players.
“MLB is proud to support the Negro Leagues Family Alliance with this grant through the joint Youth Development Foundation,” said Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, in a release. “Their mission aligns perfectly with our sport’s existing efforts to educate fans about the rich history of the Negro Leagues and growing our sport among future generations. We will continue to work with the alliance as they build on the momentum created by the integration of Negro Leagues statistics and MLB at Rickwood.”
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
