When it comes to the history and impact of the Negro Leagues, Bob Kendrick is one of the foremost authorities. Since 1993, he has been a part of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and has served as the organization’s president for the last 12 years. As leader of the museum, he has led a nearly $20 million turnaround that has kept the NLBM thriving.

For his work with the museum, Kendrick has received several awards, including the Mary Lona Diversity Award from the Greater Kansas City Black Chamber of Commerce in 2006, and he was named “Citizen of the Year” by the Omicron Xi chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Also, he was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

Kendrick is also the host Black Diamonds, a Sirius XM podcast that highlights that the history of the Negro Leagues, the achievements of the players,  how the their innovations influence modern baseball and events that shaped them during a time of segregation and inequality. Past guests include Reggie Jackson, Derek Jeter, Dusty Baker, and many others.

BET.com spoke with Kendrick about how the museum became his life’s work, the lack of American-born Black players in the MLB today, and Negro League players that every baseball fan must know

BET.com: When do you remember falling in love with the game of baseball?

Bob Kendrick: Wow. I heard the stories of how Hank Aaron hit bottle caps with a broomstick, and I was doing the same thing. That kind of was my introduction to baseball growing up in a small rural town in Georgia called Crawfordville, Georgia. The town is east of Atlanta, west of Augusta, with about 500 people. We made equipment from whatever was available. It could be a broomstick to a tree limb, and then when the bats broke, we used some electric tape and some nails. Those are some of my early baseball memories, and I’m a lifelong Atlanta Braves fan. Of course, after I got into Kansas City and started working with the museum, I became a Royals fan. They have been such a tremendous supporter.

BET.com: When did you first learn about the Negro Leagues?

Bob Kendrick: It's really interesting because my middle brother loved Joe Black. At that time, I didn't know Joe Black played in the Negro Leagues. I knew he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and would attend Morgan State University and become the first African American executive of a major transportation company, which was Greyhound. He also used to write a column for Ebony and Jet titled “By the Way With Joe Black.” Yes. So the names Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell and Josh Gibson, I heard early on as a kid. But really, I didn't quite understand or identify this whole Negro Leagues thing, honestly, until I got involved with the museum, which is hard to believe, 30 years ago as a volunteer.

Shortly after the museum had been established, I was working for the Kansas City Star in the promotions department, which functioned as its in-house advertising agency. I drew the assignment of promoting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum's first-ever traveling exhibition, which was called Discover Greatness. I didn't even know there was a Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and it was right down the street from where the Kansas City Star operated.

One day, I went down to the building, and the late Don Mottley, who was the museum’s executive director at that time, was there. I said to him, “I'm looking for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.” He smiled and said, “Sir, you're standing in it.” It was just a little one-room office with some pictures on the wall and a few boxes of memorabilia. I had no idea that what I just walked into would become my passion. I fell in love with the amazing athletes who made this story. I quickly realized I didn't know a doggone thing about this game and its connection to the history of this country. I’m truly blessed to have 30 years of affiliation with this great institution and the last 12 years serving as president.

BET.com: At the museum, you worked with Buck O’Neil, the first Black member of an AL/NL coaching staff, as part of the Cubs’ “College of Coaches.” How was it for you to work so closely with an icon?

Bob Kendrick: I always tell people that they paid me to hang out with Buck O’Neil.  I would have done it for free. The passion, the charisma, the energy that he exuded for the Negro League players was magnetic. When I first met him in 1993, I posed the question,“What motivated you to want to build a Negro Leagues Baseball Museum?”

He said, “I don’t want those Black players forgotten – not for just what they gave the game of baseball but, more importantly, what they gave this country.”

That's been the quest ever since he didn't get into the Hall of Fame in 2006. When he was still with us, I remember when he missed by one vote in 2006 and I had to tell him he didn't get in. Oh, man, it was gut-wrenching. When I told him he didn't get enough votes, he looked at me and said, “Well, that's how the cookie crumbles.” Then he asked, “How many got in?” I said, “17.” He banged the table in utter jubilation because 17 of his colleagues had gotten their rightful place into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I wish he could have been there when he was inducted in 2022.

BET.com: Over the years, there’s been a severe downturn in Black players in the MLB and Black people watching the game. What do you think has caused this disconnect?

Bob Kendrick: I get asked that question all the time because we've seen such a dwindling number of American-born Blacks. You're right. There became a detachment from our game at some point in time. Right after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, Black folks loved MLB, and Black players dominated the sport for decades. But slowly, we started to become detached. There are a number of variables that ultimately came into play. One of them is that the ballparks were in urban areas, but many teams relocated to the suburbs, and then transportation became an issue.

When you look at the rise and popularity of basketball and football, particularly in our community, they have become so big because it's star driven. Major League Baseball, and I've said this to the commissioner and others in the game, the thing that we love about baseball is the tradition. But now, with some of the rule changes that are speeding  the game back up, I hope to see more traction with the Black community. When those players came in from the Negro Leagues, they changed the pace the game was played.

Also, the game has become so expensive now. You have to have a pitching coach, a hitting coach, and more, which has priced out a lot of kids. At the museum, we’re working diligently to try and bridge that economic gap.

When they walk into this museum, they’ll see players who played the game as well as anyone who played it, but also see team owners, traveling secretaries, and other positions. They did everything that you could do in the business of the game of baseball. So the museum and the history does play a role.

BET.com: Lastly, who would you say are the top Negro Players of all time?

Bob Kendrick: I can give you my favorite players. If you ask me tomorrow, the list may change. But I would say Leroy ‘Satchel” Paige, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Cool Papa Bell, and Martín Dihigo, the great Cuban star.  He played all nine positions and is the only baseball player in the history of our sport to be inducted into five different countries' baseball Halls of Fame. He’s in the Mexican, Cuban, Venezuelan, Dominican, and in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.