Sunday will be a day of celebration throughout Major League Baseball as it honors the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Negro Leagues. All players, coaches and umpires will don a symbolic anniversary patch on their uniforms.

This celebration means a little more to Royals hitting coach Terry Bradshaw and first-base coach Damon Hollins, both of whom are African American.

• The Negro Leagues: Complete coverage

“It’s everything for me,” Bradshaw said in a Zoom call. “When you do your research and look back at the days of the Negro Leagues baseball and the challenges they had to face and what they had to go through, it just shows you how courageous and disciplined those guys were.

“Playing games, jumping on a bus and not knowing if they could stop and get something to eat or even a place to sleep that night. Through all those challenges, it never stopped those guys to continue to play the game that they love, even though they had those off-the-field challenges.

“They paved the way for us, for myself and for Damon. It means everything to me to have the opportunity to play the game at the highest level and now to be able be here as an African American coach.”

“I pretty much echo what Terry said,” Hollins added. “You think about 100 years ago what African American people went through. I want to thank Major League Baseball for this appreciative moment.

“To deal with the obstacles they dealt with. This is just a huge tribute.”

Bradshaw also urged everyone to visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which is located in Kansas City.

“Even if you’re not a baseball fan,” Bradshaw said, “just learning the history of what these guys went through, not being able to play in the Major Leagues, it’s eye-opening. I don’t think a lot of people know the history. It will enlighten you about how these guys continued to overcome and battle and persevere. I don’t even know if I could have been that strong.”

Griffin has TJ surgery
Royals left-hander Foster Griffin, who made his MLB debut last month, indicated on Twitter that he had undergone Tommy John surgery.

Griffin was put on the 45-day injured list shortly after making his debut on July 27. Griffin pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings that night against Detroit and earned a win on his 25th birthday. But he left the game because of a strained left forearm.