Trip to Negro Leagues Baseball Museum inspires Chicago White Sox ACE players

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Colten Jones made his way through the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum on April 6 wearing a Chicago American Giants cap.

As an outfielder in the Chicago White Sox Amateur City Elite (ACE) youth program, Jones listened intently as museum president Bob Kendrick told stories about Andrew “Rube” Foster, James Thomas “Cool Papa” Bell, Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe and Jackie Robinson – whom Major League Baseball will pay tribute to on Monday with its annual “Jackie Robinson Day.”

“I really liked the stories,” Jones said, particularly about Hall of Famer Satchel Paige’s pitches, “and how he named them all.”

Jones and his ACE 13/14U colleagues Brock Hamilton, Matthew Nabieu and Jordan Terrell recently visited the museum while the Sox were in Kansas City for their series against the Royals. Several Sox officials — including assistant general manager Josh Barfield, hitting coach Marcus Thames, first base coach Jason Bourgeois, broadcaster John Schriffen and pitcher Michael Kopech — were also in attendance.

“This experience is great,” said Nabieu, 13, an infielder. “It showed me what was really going on in the Negro Leagues and what the MLB was built on. It showed that not everything is done in the MLB.”

Nabieu had visited the museum before, but felt that Kendrick's detailed stories added another layer to this special afternoon.

“I never get tired of sharing the stories with current and former top athletes, athletes from all sports, but this means a little bit more because it's the White Sox and how close the White Sox are. “It was great and how much the White Sox have supported the museum over the years,” Kendrick said. “The opportunity to have children from the ACE program here is not the first time, but it is always meaningful.

“I hope they take something from this that will drive them forward as they continue to play this game.”

This mission has been accomplished.

“It was a really good experience to see everything, the old history of black baseball,” said Hamilton, 14, a first baseman and an aspiring broadcaster. “It was all very important.”

Hamilton called the tour a “blessing.”

“Not everyone gets something like this,” he said. “For me to have the opportunity to have this opportunity is really good.”

Barfield always makes it a point to visit the museum whenever he is in town. He enjoyed the opportunity to share this experience with the ACE players.

“It’s another generation removed from the Negro leagues,” Barfield said. “I think the further we get away from that, the more important it is for young children to hear these stories so that they can pass that on and develop an understanding of why we get to play the game today and the privileges we have today.”

“These guys paved the way for us. It's a great story. I think they really enjoyed their time there.”

This also applies to Kopech, who was visiting his family for the first time. Like Jones, Kopech was fascinated by Paige.