KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There are some significant milestones in 2024.
It has been 10 years since the Kansas City Royals had their 2014 Blue October. It is 100 years of general contractor J.E. Dunn building up Kansas City. It is also 100 years since the first Negro League World Series when the Kansas City Monarchs took on the Hillsdale Daisies and won.
To commemorate 100 years, J.E. Dunn is donating $100 to the museum for every run the Royals score at Kauffman Stadium this season.
That money will go toward overall operations.
"I hope the Royals score a lot of runs this year. I'm one of those that love pitching duels. I love a one-nothing, two-to-one ball game, but not this year," said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. "We need the Royals to drive home and touch home plate as many times as possible."
Kendrick said baseball history runs deep in Kansas City.
He said the KC Monarchs are the city's first professional sports team to win a championship game and no team has won at the level the Monarchs did in their 40 season.
They sent more players to the major leagues than any other Negro League team.
Kendrick wants people to remember the impact of the Monarchs when rooting for the Royals this season.
"Baseball has always been a very important part of this city. And now it is lived out through the Royals. But no sport looks back the way that baseball does. We constantly look back. And so history is very significant," Kendrick said. "The history that we are taking care of here at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum has been embraced by both the Kansas City Royals, and again, our minor league partner the Kansas City Monarchs over in Kansas City, Kansas."
The third annual March of the Monarchs takes place on May 4.
People will walk from the original stadium site at 22nd and Brooklyn to the museum at 18th and Vine, a walk that used to take place on the Monarch's opening day.
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