By Keith D. King
Former Morse High standout and current Baltimore Orioles star outfielder Adam Jones has decided to donate $20,000 to the Negro League Baseball Museum.
“I think coming here, the donation from myself with the help of the PA (Players’ Association) is going to help educate all kids, and all adults,” Jones told reporters.
“I think the donation that we were able to make, hopefully, other people come together and make it a bigger donation and getting more and more kids and getting more and more adults through this place so they can understand what the Negro Leagues was about. It’s not just about the segregation part, it’s about the education of this great game of baseball. As you’ve seen, once baseball integrated, a lot of African-Americans were very instrumental in the great movement of the game of baseball.” he added.
The Negro Baseball Museum is located in Kansas City, Missouri. The Museum honors great African-American baseball players of the 1800s, and 1900s that weren’t allowed to play in the Major Leagues due to racism and segregation. In 1945 Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to be integrated into the MLB, this eventually caused other MLB teams to begin scouting players from the Negro Leagues, thus causing fewer players to choose to play in the Negro league. The final Negro League season ended in the early 1960s.
The donation comes weeks after being in the national spotlight after speaking out about having racial slurs thrown his way during a baseball game in Boston.
“A disrespectful fan threw a bag of peanuts at me. I was called the N-word a handful of times tonight. Thanks. Pretty awesome.” he told reporters after the game.
Jones, one of the 8.5 percent of African-Americans currently on a Major League roster has been one of the brightest stars in baseball over the last few years. Jones is currently batting .250 with 5 homeruns and 15 R.B.I For the 22-15 Orioles. During this past Spring Jones held his annual baseball camp at Morse High and also was able to make one of the most memorable catches at Petco Park in front of his hometown fans during the World Baseball Classic.
During his visit to the Museum, Jones said that he planned to provide free admission to all kids who participated in a local non-profit organization as well.
