Last year, MLB The Show launched the start of a multi-year journey, telling some of American baseball’s most important history with Storylines: The Negro Leagues. This feature rolled out throughout last season, adding the ability to experience playing as Negro League baseball legends like Buck O’Neil, Jackie Robinson, and more, putting you in their shoes in some of their most pivotal games of their careers. Now the acclaimed mode is back for year two with Storylines: The Negro Leagues Season 2.

Last year’s inclusion was outstanding for the game and it’s great to see that it’s returning to MLB The Show 24. We caught up with Communications and Brand Strategist at San Diego Studio Ramone Russell to learn a bit more about what’s in store for this season, and what some of his favorite reactions were from long-time fans of the franchise after playing through Storylines last year.

“(I liked) hearing about kids playing through Storylines and having their parents take them to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City,” Russell recalls. “We always wanted Storylines to be a starting point in the journey. Helping tell the story of the Negro Leagues to a younger audience in a fun and engaging way made all the hard work worth it.”

Founded in 1990, the Negro League Baseball Museum is the world’s only museum “dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African American baseball and its profound impact on the social advancement of America.” As a volunteer in the early ‘90s, Bob Kendrick started working with the NLBM, and he became President in 2011. He has since overseen many of the museum’s educational programs, events, and more – including the first season of Storylines for MLB The Show 24.

“This project wouldn’t be possible without our groundbreaking partnership with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and their president, Bob Kendrick,” explains Russell. “It was paramount for us to give context to these amazing players and the history behind the Negro Leagues. Bob does this better than anyone. Our job was to make these stories engaging for a video game and let Bob do the teaching.”

For this upcoming MLB The Show 24 season, there will be 10 new Negro League Legends added, each with their own unique Storyline to experience. Legends like Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Hank Aaron, and Toni Stone have been confirmed to be playable at early access launch on March 15, 2024, for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

The next set of three Negro Leagues players will arrive as a free downloadable content drop in April, and then again in May. In addition, all the players from Season 1 of Storylines will be included in MLB The Show 24 at launch — so if you missed out on this feature from last year’s game, you’ll have a lot to experience on day one.

“The creation and development of Storylines was a very organic process. It wasn’t perfect, and we weren’t able to include everything we wanted to in year one,” shares Russell. “However, we started this project with three goals in mind: to educate, enlighten, and inspire by celebrating the rich history of the Negro Leagues. We accomplished those goals and helped bring some much-needed attention to such an important part and often overlooked chapter in American history.”

A big part of the reason why there is so much history for Russell and the MLB The Show team to pull from is in large part thanks to the efforts of Black newspapers and Black press who worked tirelessly to document Negro Leagues history (you can learn more about them here on the official National Baseball Hall of Fame site). Without those efforts we may have never heard about these Black baseball legends.

If you have noticed the design of this year’s MLB The Show 24 Collector’s Edition, this is why it’s been made to pay homage to these important members of baseball’s history. This year’s theme, as Russell puts is, “is a tribute to those who helped give a voice to the voiceless.” Without these newspapers and the pioneering baseball writers, the Negro Leagues wouldn’t have survived; they preserved this often-overlooked chapter of American and baseball history.

“The Kansas City Call, Pittsburg Currier, and Chicago Defender are just a few of the black-oriented newspapers in the 1930s and 1940s that formed a symbiotic relationship with the Negro Leagues,” Russell explains. ““They, along with what pioneering black writers like Wendell Smith and Sam Lacy documented, are so important to this story. We’re hoping our fans love the cover art, and from the response we’ve received they in fact do. For some fans the journey will end there and that’s OK. For others, they may dig a little deeper to learn a little more about the history behind the creative.”

In their continued partnership with The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, MLB The Show will donate $1 for every Negro Leagues Edition, Digital Deluxe Edition, and MVP edition sold in the U.S. until 12/31/24 to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. You can visit the official site of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum here to learn more about their important work.

Look for MLB The Show 24 to launch on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and day one with Xbox Game Pass on March 19, 2024. Xbox Game Pass members can also pick up the Digital Deluxe Edition and 4 days early access by purchasing the Digital Deluxe Upgrade Add-On Bundle here on the Xbox Store.