KANSAS CITY -- Orioles center fielder Adam Jones has been to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum on multiple occasions and Saturday's visit will be a special one.
While at the museum, Jones will bestow a $20,000 personal contribution. Jones will also formally announce that he will provide free museum admission to children from Operation Breakthrough, a local nonprofit that offers full-day early learning and child care for kids through age 5 as well as before and after-school and full-day summer activities for children ages 5 through 13.
Prior to the series opener against the Royals on Friday, Jones emphasized that he is always impacted by what he sees and feels inside the Museum.
"It's about the game of baseball, from the Negro Leagues side of it, their point of view," Jones said. "The day you walk through those doors, there's such a love for baseball. It's contagious."
Giving kids an enhanced opportunity to visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is extremely meaningful for Jones.
"It's all about getting the knowledge," Jones said. "When I walked through those doors, I learned. It would be selfish of me not to help other people learn."
The sacrifices of Negro Leagues players aren't lost on Jones.
"I have an unbelievable appreciation for everything they went through," Jones said. "Not just between the lines. The things they had to endure away from the field for me to be where I am. Those are things I don't take for granted."
In honor of Jones' contribution, the Major League Baseball Players Trust will provide a memorable experience for Operation Breakthrough children on July 18, when Players Trust ambassador Judy Pace Flood, Curt Flood's widow, and MLBPA special assistant Jeffrey Hammonds host the group at the museum. Following the museum visit, the group will attend the Royals-Tigers game through the Players Trust's Buses for Baseball program.