Royals will wear Negro Leagues uniforms Sunday; special pregame show is Saturday
There are no ties in baseball*, but there will be plenty in the stands at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday.
*Let’s not mention the 2002 All-Star Game, OK?
Sunday is the Royals’ annual Salute to the Negro Leagues and Dressed to the Nines celebration. Some fans take part in the latter by wearing the suits, ties, coats, fedoras or a fancy dress to the game.
The Royals will don throwback 1949 Monarchs uniforms, while the Tigers will be dressed as the 1920 Detroit Stars from the Negro Leagues.
Game-used jerseys, hats and batting helmets will be auctioned off in the days following the game at royals.com/auction and tigers.com/auction. Proceeds will benefit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
The first 10,000 fans at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday will receive a Jackie Robinson Monarchs shirt.
Bally Sports Kansas City also is planning something special this weekend. It will broadcast Saturday’s “Royals Live” pregame show from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. It will be expanded to an hour and starts at 2 p.m.
Bally Sports Kansas City’s Joel Goldberg will host the show live from the museum, while Jeff Montgomery, Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler will join in from Kauffman Stadium.
One of the topics, Bally said, will be the integration of Negro Leagues stats into the official Major League Baseball record book.
The network said there will be interviews with NLBM president Bob Kendrick; Raymond Doswell, museum vice president and curator; Kiona Sinks, NLBM community engagement and digital strategy manager; and DeMorris Smith, the son of Hall of Fame Kansas City Monarchs pitcher Hilton Smith..
The 1920 Detroit Stars finished second in the Negro Leagues National League, Seamheads.com said. Center fielder Jimmy Lyons batted .379 for that team. Buck O’Neil was manager of the 1949 Monarchs, who finished with a 54-37 record.
This story was originally published May 21, 2021 at 11:39 AM.
