In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues, which produced sports legends from Hank Aaron to Jackie Robinson, a centennial set of baseball cards has been released featuring 184 members of the league.
Created through a partnership between Dreams Fulfilled, which operates the NegroLeagueHistory.com website, and the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame, the card sets are individually numbered and limited to 5,000. It is the only card set authorized by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and players’ families to mark the league’s centennial.
Artwork for the cards is based on portraits painted by Graig Kreindler, 230 of which are on display at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo., part of an exhibit titled “Black Baseball in Living Color.”
“This exhibit is the greatest platform the museum has ever had to tell its story,” said NLBM President Bob Kendrick.
Chronologically, the set begins in 1871 with Octavius Catto, an early civil rights leader and educator, of the Pythian Base Ball Club of Philadelphia, and ends with Connie Morgan in 1954. Morgan was one of three women, along with Toni Stone and Mamie “Peanuts” Johnson, who played in the Negro Leagues with the Indianapolis Clowns and are featured in the card set.
“Our hope is to educate the public, not only on the skill these players possessed, but also for their role in eroding racial barriers. They demonstrated their skills in a statistically backed meritocracy, which demanded equal treatment,” Dreams Fulfilled founder Jay Caldwell said. “When Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947, he stood on the shoulders of these great ball players who preceded him.”
The set includes cards for players like Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell, both of whom played for Pittsburgh-area Negro League teams like the Crawfords and Homestead Grays.
The set is $80, and comes with one “mystery bobblehead” of a Negro League player.
Sets can be ordered online at Store.bobbleheadhall.com.
