Major League Baseball

MLB Honors Negro Leagues Centennial

Published Aug. 16, 2020 4:37 p.m. ET

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Sunday marked a special celebration for Major League Baseball, as teams and players across the sport commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues.

Founded in 1920 by Rube Foster after Black players were barred from the highest levels of organized baseball for being non-white, the Negro Leagues served as a springboard to eventual integration for Black players into MLB. 

Talents such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Jackie Robinson, the first player to MLB's color barrier in 1944, all played in the Negro Leagues.

Baseball planned to honor the Negro Leagues on June 27, but postponed the celebration due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The most noticeable tribute came from the Miami Marlins, who donned the throwback uniforms of the Miami Giants from the 1920s-40s.

Marlins pitcher Sterling Sharp even customized his cleats for the occasion.

But the celebration wasn't limited to Miami. Every player, manager, coach and even umpire across baseball wore a commemorative logo patch on Sunday, too.

To check out more of the centennial celebration of the Negro Leagues, search the hashtag #NegroLeagues100 on social media.

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