December 18, 2025 – As our fans know well, the Stars are working tirelessly to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville.
Or, rather, “back to Nashville.”
That’s right, five years ago this week, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and league officials recognized the Negro Leagues as official Major Leagues. Six months later, MLB elevated the statistics of Negro Leagues players to full Major League status. With the latter’s statistics now incorporated alongside the former’s, the players who honed their skills in Music City and across the country throughout the 20th century are now synonymous with the greats of MLB teams throughout the decades.
Case in point: Nashville’s own Norman “Turkey” Stearnes now has the 7th-highest batting average and OPS in MLB history.
On the five-year anniversary of Manfred’s transformational decision, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president and Nashville Stars Board member Bob Kendrick shared his thoughts on the impact of the Negro Leagues on the game of baseball then and now.