Officially Licensed - NLBM
NLBM - Leaders and Innovators - Kids T-Shirt
Color:True Royal
Size:
Size
Style:
Style
Quantity:
NLBM - Leaders and Innovators
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum new “Leaders & Innovators” campaign for 2025 celebrates the great managers of the Negro Leagues and the league’s many game-changing innovations!
- Night Baseball: The Negro Leagues began playing under the lights five years before Major League Baseball. Kansas City Monarchs owner J.L. Wilkinson mortgaged everything he owned in 1929 and commissioned an Omaha company to build a set of portable generator light towers, allowing the Monarchs to hold the first-ever night baseball game on April 28, 1930.
- Batting Helmet: After being knocked unconscious by a pitch in 1936, Willie Wells of the Newark Eagles wore a construction helmet so that he could return to the lineup for the very next game, against doctor’s advice. Batting helmets weren’t seen in the MLB until Brooklyn Dodgers’ general manager Larry MacPhail made his club use hats with protective plate inserts in 1941.
- Shin Guards: Major League Baseball HOF catcher, Roger Bresnahan, is often credited with popularizing shin guards beginning in 1907, but he was not the first to don them in an organized game. John “Bud” Fowler of the Negro Leagues pioneered shin guards when he fashioned wooden slats to cover his shins in order to protect himself while behind the plate. About a decade later, Negro Leagues star Pop Lloyd famously wore iron shin guards in an exhibition game against Ty Cobb’s Tigers, helping him withstand spike challenges by Cobb and blocking him from stealing second base.
Officially Licensed by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Kansas City, Mo.
commitment to superior quality
Each piece is crafted with meticulous attention to detail and undergoes thorough quality checks by hand. We're proud to lead the market in print, sewing, and fabric quality.