Dick Perez’s eye-catching portraits of Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and other Negro Leagues icons have captivated visitors at Kansas City’s Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) for decades. Now, a new documentary celebrates the artist who brought these baseball legends to life.
The NLBM will premiere “The Diamond King,” a feature-length documentary that follows Perez’s remarkable journey from Puerto Rico to becoming the official artist of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Award-winning filmmaker Marq Evans directed the film, which will be shown Wed. Nov. 20 at 6 p.m.
Perez transformed baseball art during his more than 20-year tenure as the Hall of Fame’s official artist. His path began when he moved from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico to New York City at age six. He later established himself as the Philadelphia Phillies’ official artist, but baseball fans might know him best for his dynamic paintings in the Donruss Diamond Kings baseball card series (1982-96).
His distinctive style combines acrylics, oils, gouache, and watercolors to capture not just the players but the entire baseball experience – from the crack of the bat to the roar of the crowd.
The artist’s connection to Negro Leagues history is particularly meaningful. Perez has painted every Negro Leagues player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, creating a vital visual record of Black baseball’s pioneering athletes.
The museum will host a Q&A session after the screening, bringing together a distinguished panel. Perez will join director Evans and Joe Posnanski, the film’s narration writer, for a discussion moderated by Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick. This conversation promises to reveal insights into both the artistic process and the preservation of Negro Leagues history.
“The Diamond King”
Documentary screening and Q&A
Wed, Nov. 20, 6 to 8 p.m.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, 1616 E. 18th St, KCMO
Free with RSVP, registration at bit.ly/NLBMDiamondKing
Donations to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum encouraged
