For the seventh consecutive year, Major League Baseball (MLB) and all 30 Clubs organized a charity auction during Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings to benefit a special cause close to the game. In a Dec. 10, 2018 press event held at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, MLB announced that proceeds from the auction, would support the NLBM and the Jackie Robinson. The NLBM will use its share of the proceeds to mitigate damages to the Buck O’Neil Center caused by vandals last summer.
In June 2017, MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) jointly contributed $1 million in support of the NLBM. The effort strived to inspire future generations of underrepresented youth to play baseball by helping to ensure the Museum’s sustainability as the preservationists of the history of the Negro Leagues as well as the memory and legacies of those who played.