DANVILLE — A local company is helping to bring a bit of dignity to Negro Leagues Baseball players who lie in unmarked graves.

Trigard Memorials has designed and donated a bronze marker for one player, and expects to do more.

Trigard’s first marker was dedicated Saturday at Mount Hope Cemetery in Topeka, Kan., for Carroll Ray “Dink” Mothell.

Mothell has been in an unmarked grave since his death on April 24, 1980. A native of Topeka, the versatile athlete played 15 seasons in the Negro Leagues from 1920-34, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs.

Mothell’s marker was the 22nd installed since the Society for American Baseball Research started honoring former players in 2004.

Rich Darby, chief operating officer at Trigard, is a baseball buff, so it was only natural for the company to get involved in a worthwhile project.

Darby said he learned about the grave marker project while watching a clip about it on ESPN. He e-mailed his sisters, who are involved in the company, and they also liked the idea of honoring the players.

“My family wanted to help out and donate the grave memorial,” he said.

Jeremy Krock of Peoria, who started the project, had been working with other companies. But he was pleased when Darby contacted him and said Trigard wanted to donate the marker.

“Our family believes in giving back,” Darby said.

“We’ve been blessed and very successful. This isn’t to get attention — it’s to help people out.”

Krock said in a telephone interview that the marker is beautiful, and it was well-received during Saturday’s ceremony. The bronze marker is 24 inches wide and 14 inches tall, and it’s bolted onto a granite base.

As for the Trigard donation, Krock said, “I’m very appreciative of that. It’s good to have a partner in manufacturing.” Collaborating with Trigard will make the task easier, Krock said, and perhaps standardize the markers to an extent.

The donation of markers will help free up money that can be used for other expenses, such as installing the markers and putting in a base.

Krock also noted there was a good turnout at Saturday’s ceremony to dedicate Mothell’s marker and several people spoke who knew the player.

The background

Krock had heard stories while growing up about Negro Leagues ballplayer Jimmie Crutchfield. Crutchfield played outfield for eight teams in the Negro Leagues during a 15-year career that began in 1930.

In 2003, Krock took his wife and children to the Field Museum in Chicago to see “Baseball as America,” a traveling exhibit from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Krock bought a book “Black Baseball in Chicago,” and he found information about Crutchfield.

Wanting to know where Crutchfield was buried, Krock contacted Dick Clark, co-chair of the Negro Leagues Committee of the Society of American Baseball Research, and Clark provided some leads.

Later that year, Krock traveled to Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip to pay his respects to the ballplayer. He was surprised to find the athlete and his wife were in unmarked graves.

Krock then went on a mission to raise money, and the response was remarkable. With help from the NLC, he found the unmarked graves of Candy Jim Taylor, a longtime Negro Leagues player and manager, and John Donaldson, a pitcher who later became the first black scout for the Chicago White Sox.

The money raised through donations purchased three markers, and they were dedicated in 2004 at Burr Oak Cemetery.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project then became an official part of the NLC.