Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick was playing a round of golf when he received word that Hall of Famer Joe Morgan passed away on Sunday at the age of 77. Kendrick said Morgan was a long-time supporter of NLBM and wrote a thesis on the Negro Leagues while attending California State University. According to a published report, Morgan received an "A" grade on the thesis.

“This is a tremendous loss for all of us and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. I’m absolutely heartbroken,” Kendrick said. “He was very proud of his thesis. He was always a student of the Negro Leagues. He understood the league, appreciated it and respected it.”

• The Negro Leagues

Morgan was a not a stranger to NLBM, located at the corner of East 18th and Vine Streets in Kansas City. Like most people who visit the museum, Morgan was in awe of what it had on display -- from statues of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson to photos of his hero, Jackie Robinson.

Morgan was one of four members of the inaugural class -- Lou Brock, Roberto Clemente and Dave Winfield are the others -- of the Hall of Game, the museum's tribute to MLB stars who played the game with the same passion and determination as the heroes of the Negro Leagues. Morgan was also a friend of a Negro League legend Buck O’Neil, the founder of NLBM. In fact, Morgan hosted O’Neil’s homegoing in October 2006.

"Buck was similar to Jackie Robinson," Morgan said to MLB.com in 2014. "There was more to him than just baseball. He was probably the greatest ambassador the Negro Leagues had ever had."

Kendrick said Morgan credited the Negro Leaguers for his success as a baseball player. Morgan showed that passion for his heroes by becoming one of the best second basemen who ever lived. Morgan had a slash line of .271/.392/.427 with 268 home runs, 1,133 RBIs, 689 steals and 1,650 runs in his big league career. Most of his greatest success came with the Reds, with whom he was named the National League's MVP Award winner in 1975 and ’76. He also helped Cincinnati win two World Series titles those same years.

“[Morgan] had admiration for what those players in the Negro Leagues had done. They built a bridge,” Kendrick said. “Joe Morgan crossed over that bridge that was built by those legendary and courageous athletes of the Negro Leagues. He understood it and he was humbled by it.”