GLASGOW, Mo. — For Pete Gorton, every step forward takes him back in time.
That's what brings him to Glasgow, Missouri.
"I think about where I've come from, what I've been fortunate enough to be able to accomplish," said Gorton.
Glasgow is home to a little more than 1,000 people and a brand new ballpark named after perhaps, the greatest player no one has ever heard of.
"There's a hole in the lexicon of baseball history that needs to include John Donaldson," Gorton explained.
Twenty years before the Jackie Robinson era in Major League Baseball, John Donaldson was breaking barriers in the barnstorming era.
"John Donaldson is known to have played in 725 towns all across the United States," Gorton said.
Donaldson, who was one of the founding members of the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues, would compete with and against teams of white players that included major leaguers in their off-season. But he was the big draw.
"He was out in rural America with a heavily advertised circus-like mentality, where they would advertise the greatest pitcher in the world is coming to your town and thousands and thousands of people would come," Gorton said.
It was during this time that the lefthanded Donaldson threw 4 no-hitters and two perfect games.
You can find those records, not in a Hall of Fame, but in Pete Gorton's Minneapolis basement.
"John Donaldson's story tips his hand to you a little bit at a time," he said.
For 20 years, he's been piecing together Donaldson's career like a historic jigsaw puzzle. Connecting each small fragment to paint the big picture.
"505 wins, we have 5,039 verified strikeouts and every single one of them is in these boxes," Gorton said from his basement.
It was a photograph of Donaldson in a Minnesota museum that first caught his attention but now Gorton has enough material for his own museum. In addition, to dozens of rare pictures, he also unearthed a 1925 film. 39 seconds of Donaldson pitching.
"He strikes out 18 guys that day," Gorton said.
95 years later, Gorton's journey brings him to Glasgow, Donaldson's home town. And he hasn't come alone.
"I would not have missed this for anything in the world," said Bob Kendrick.
Kendrick, the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, is among the special guests on hand for the dedication of John Donaldson field.
And at a time in this country, when we've been tearing down symbols of hate, they're also unveiling the John Donaldson statue.
"This community has stepped up to erect a statue of a black man, but not just any ordinary black man, an absolute extraordinary black man, and to welcome their native son back home," Kendrick said.
Part of our past is hidden behind the wall of segregation. Where equality is forbidden, it's easy to be forgotten. But Pete Gorton is righting a wrong.
"A piece of the puzzle is coming back to life," Gorton said.
He's helped John Donaldson has come out of the shadows of history and into the light.
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