President Barack Obama is giving a special shout-out to legends like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson on the 100th anniversary of the Negro League ... praising the players for changing baseball history.
Of course, the Negro Leagues were created in 1920 because there was an unwritten rule that MLB teams couldn't sign black players ... until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947.
FYI -- some of the greatest players in the sport were minorities ... and there are 35 NL players in the Hall of Fame.