Sounds like I'd better get down there sooner rather than later.

It was a really beautiful museum, I thought. They have a nice amount of memorabilia and the locker displays are really amazing to look at. When I went 3 years ago, my wife and I were the only 2 people there, and walking around the life size bronze statues was really cool.

I haven't RTA; why did management choose to distance themselves from Buck?

EDIT: Never mind - I RTA. Sad.

I think there's a tendency in any organization when you have new leadership that the new leaders want to do it "their way." Even if their way is worse than the old way. Even if they have no affinity or feel for the mission of the organization.

I remember Poz, one of the Museum's most stringent proponents, writing about how he'll never have anything to do with it again, based on the actions of those in charge. I took that as a pretty bad sign for the museum's prospects.

I remember Poz, one of the Museum's most stringent proponents, writing about how he'll never have anything to do with it again, based on the actions of those in charge. I took that as a pretty bad sign for the museum's prospects.


Jason Whitlock wrote a similar, more scathing column IIRC. Tis a shame. KC doesn't really support 18th and Vine the way it should. The NLBM was one of the few gems the area had going for it.

I've been there and it was really cool. I'm not sure what this power struggle and so forth is all about but it would be a real shame if the museum closed. My wife liked the NLBM better than the actual Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. It's small but very interesting.

I remember Poz, one of the Museum's most stringent proponents, writing about how he'll never have anything to do with it again, based on the actions of those in charge. I took that as a pretty bad sign for the museum's prospects.

The Poz article. Wow, I had not read this. If it's more than just Poz taking this angle, I could see donations drying up.

The URL I'm coming up with for Whitlock's column is now yielding a 404.

Poz has a Jan 30 post on the article, saying he'll write more in a few days...

Whitlock's article seems to have disappeared. LexisNexus doesn't have it either.

LexisNexus does have a follow up article from 1-19-09 where the new director Greg Baker -- and primary source of controversy -- gets to respond to allegations.

The article notes that Baker does not have any museum experience and also that he is making $115,000 a year. Memory serves that those were two big issues with him being the appointee.

But as Posnanski's article also notes, it was the voting process as much as anything that had folks upset. Everything about Baker becoming director seemed shady.

Shoddy election that results in an seemly unqualified man getting appointed to a job that pays a lot of money to run an institution that is cash-strapped seems like a good script for a disaster.

*EDIT* I suppose I should mention Baker's rebuttal. He doesn't really even respond to the fact that he's not qualified, he pretty much admits as much. But he gives a list of projects that he wants to push forward. (Of course, money is key to all of those and alienating a good portion of your biggest supporters might not be the best way to get those projects done.)

Whitlock's article seems to have disappeared. LexisNexus doesn't have it either.

In LEXIS its not listed as Whitlock's (until the end where it reads "to reach Jason Whitlock"), but its the column dated December 13, 2008 titled "Negro Leagues Museum." I can't reprint it here, but some excerpts (Gray is museum board member and head of the KC Sports Commission Kevin Gray):

I told you all two months ago that Gray and members of the museum board were up to no good when it came to appointing a new executive director. Well, they executed their plan several weeks ago and mustered the courage to announce it Friday.

Rather than choosing marketing director Bob Kendrick, Buck O'Neil's right-hand man and the brains and passion behind the museum for more than a decade, an 8-7 vote delivered the position to Baker, someone with virtually no clout in KC's black community.

The reluctant-to-criticize-anything-black Kansas City Call newspaper recently blasted Baker, who is black, for his lack of credibility in the black community.

An up-to-date Hood Pass is a requirement for leading the museum. It's not a job for Clarence Thomas.

Baker's top qualification - besides his "strategic planning" expertise - is he'll do what Gray tells him. In an interview with The Star'sSam Mellinger, Baker acknowledged Friday that he's willing to consider abandoning O'Neil's vision of an education and research facility.

I'll credit Baker for backbone....

He went from being a member of the executive-director search committee to helping the 18th and Vine committee hire a high-priced Overland Park search firm (EFL Associates) to being a candidate for executive director.

Did I mention that one of Baker's friends just happened to be Peter Lemke, the founder of EFL