#Spotlight – This week we celebrate the men and women of the music world and their ties to the great sport of Baseball.
What do the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and rock and roll royalty have in common. How about not only a love for baseball, but also baseball history.
In the early 2000's Geddy Lee of the rock band Rush toured the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Shortly after his visit, Lee came across a large collection of baseballs autographed by a number of Negro League stars. Lee bought the entire set, that included over 400 baseballs autographed by African-American stars, including Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Josh Gibson, and donated it to the museum.
In Lee's words:
“I think it’s hard not to be moved in a place like that, regardless of your background or history, you know? There are great stories there and it was a tough time in America and America is supposed to represent the land of freedom, and yet there was this portion of society that was not free. Baseball was slow to come around to integration, and thankfully they did. And I think it’s the Negro League Museum that celebrates the lives of some fantastic athletes, and I think that’s the point. Let’s celebrate them along with the players that are in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. I think there’s always room to celebrate human achievement.”
Geddy Lee explains how his love of baseball started and where the collection came from.
The balls Geddy Lee donated where just a small part of his overall collection and love of baseball.
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