Rawlings announced, yesterday, that they would award Gold Gloves to nine players (one at each position) who played in the Negro Leagues. It is a great gesture by Rawlings to award these deserving players. The players will be announced in a ceremony and awards will be given on June 28th. It will be held at the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, MO, just ahead of the All-Star Game.

I cannot think of a better way to kick off the All-Star game festivities, than this long-overdue ceremonies. The players will be selected by a six person panel. One person on the panel is Bob Kendrick, the President of the Negro League Baseball Museum. He described the selection process this way:

These awards will recognize those players who didn’t make the jump to the Major Leagues and recognize exclusively Negro Leagues performances.

This announcement comes right on the heels of baseball-reference.com ending their years long project and adding Negro League player stats to their great site. this has ben a great year for the Negro League Museum, which is fitting as it is Negro League legend Buck O’Neil’s 100th birthday. During his life, O’Neil was an incredible ambassador for baseball and a true credit to the game. What a great tribute to his legacy.

This is a great gesture by Rawlings to do this. The Negro Leagues grew out of a result of a horrible “gentleman’s agreement” that kept African-American players out of the Major Leagues for nearly 80 years. The players made the best of a horrible situation and they are finally getting the credit they deserve. My hat is off to Rawlings.

To keep up with the Negro League Baseball Museum, be sure to follow @NLBMPrez on Twitter.