Buck O'Neil

It would have been great to see him get in and even greater to have had the chance to see him play. What a gracious and great gesture on his part. He belong in the Hall for those that alone.

Buck is a legend... With or without the hall of fame.

One of the all time, true, great ambassadors of the game.

I can't imagine why he hasn't been elected.

Anyone who watched the Ken Burns series became an immediate Buck O'Neil fan. What a truly lovely man and definately to be included in that game "What 10 people would you like to have around the dinner table"!

Buck describing the first time he saw Josh Gibson hit is a true classic.

Add Minnie Minoso to the list of deserving candidates that were turned down for a woman championed by members of this short sighted board.

Minnie has a statue @ the World Champ's ballpark. Buck deserves a statue in every ballpark.

But these fools voted both down, while enshrining another that never played the game!

I cant second KC Baseball's comments enough....to hear how this man discussed his being left off the inshrinment list with such grace and dignity was a lesson in how to be a man.....

And that he will stand up for the ones who are to be inducted and accept the honor for them, knowing he was left off is so telling of the quality of the man.

Buck O'Neil may not have the numbers but he has the things that many in the hall do not have....and that is character and honor.

Put Buck in the hall..........it isnt too late to correct the snubs of the Negro league...both past snubs and present ones..........

A while back,there wasa thread about naming one person we'd like to speak with in baseball-Buck O'Neil got my vote. I too was captivated by him on Burns' Baseball series. What a classy loving guy, and what a great weaver of stories! I could listen to him talk all day.

I first met Buck many years ago during Spring Training. I had heard him speak and had heard from so many who knew him and admired him. Had the chance to talk to him for maybe 10-15 minutes. You never forget meeting people like him.

Than many years later (but not so long ago) I ran across him at the Winter Meetings. He was setting in a restaurant and was looking at me with that famous smile of his. Just to be sure I asked those at our table "isn't that Buck O'Neil?"

When leaving I stopped and said, "Buck you probably don't remember me"... He stopped me right there, saying "Of course I remember you Jerry"! He was about 90 years old at the time.

I never felt more important in my life. That's the affect Buck has on people. There will be many others who get inducted to the Hall-of-Fame. Sadly, there will always be only one Buck O'Neil.

Back in the early 90's, (...baseball-strike year as I recall...), Buck O'Neil was in town to receive an honorary high school degree from Sarasota High School, the school he was not permitted to attend while growing up because of segregation. Also that week, a local baseball facility, currently accommodating some minor league Orioles functions was dedicated in his honor and renamed the Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex. A small ceremony was planned for mid-morning in the middle of the week, so I kept my young son out of school so that we might attend together. My position to his mother was that not all of life's lessons are learned in the classroom. Who knew she would agree.

There were likely not more than 100 people in the room that day, including a number of Orioles officials and dignitaries, and many of the Orioles minor league players. The ceremony was brief and punctuated by a brief talk by Mr. O'Neil. He was very well-spoken, humble, and gracious in the face of the accolades of the day. Surprisingly, he held my young son's attention quite well with interesting stories of events and personalities from years past.

As he drew his comments to a close, he turned his attention to the minor leaguers in the back of the room and challenged them... "If you want it bad enough, it's there for you."

Before we left, Mr. O'Neil played catch with my son, autographed his baseball, and wished him well. He would certainly not remember such an insignificant act on a memorable day, but my son never forgot.

This spring, my son will graduate from Sarasota High School, the same school that so many years ago shunned Mr. O'Neil and others of his race. Next year, he will attend his dream school on a baseball scholarship. If you were to ask him, I'm quite certain he would cite Buck O'Neil's challenge as his inspiration to work hard and maintain focus on his goals and dreams.

Just as Mr. O'Neil harbors no ill will towards those who kept him from attending high school many years ago, I'm sure he will continue to speak well of The Hall in the face this week's vote. In fact, there can be no finer ambassador for baseball, then and now. I truly hope there will be another opportunity for his entrance, for there can certainly be no more deserving an individual of this honor.

Thank you, Mr. O'Neil, for all that you have done and continue to do for the game.



"If you want it bad enough, it's there for you."

Buck O'Neil

FloridaHokie,

Great story!

Buck is a real true life ROLE MODEL! Have you ever heard him talk about HATE? We could all learn so much from him.

This is an absolute travesty by the HOF.

Buck O'neil was a heck of a player and manager in the Negro Leagues and was the first African-American coach ever hired in MLB (Cubs '62).

this is nothing less than ridiculous as is the snub of Minnie Minoso.

When we lived in Kansas City my wife worked at a recording studio and Buck, being in media demand, came in at least twice a month. His dignity and grace are what struck me most.

Sadly, if HOF voters have chosen to honor Buck only after his passes, he won't be around to hear the call, and none of us will get to hear that speech.

Shame on the hall.

Is he still eligible for selection to the Hall? It is a shame he was not selected, but it would be even a greater shame if more doors are closed to him. He clearly is more deserving that lots of guys already in, on contributions to the game alone.

Anybody here suscribe to Bill Chucks' 'Billy Ball Daily' newsletter? There was a great piece on Buck yesterday. Anyone interested I'll give you the subscription info.

Since Buck lives in KC and is the driving force behind the Negro Museum, there is plenty of media coverage in our local paper. Here's today's article and a link to see related articles. I'm glad so many posters on this site are sharing their stories about Buck. His goodness and baseball history go well beyond Kansas City.

Buck O'neil articles

Posted on Tue, Feb. 28, 2006
Buck O'Neil still the pride of KC
'If I’m a Hall of Famer for you, that’s all I need’
By SAM MELLINGER and JEFF PASSAN
The Kansas City Star

Over there on the bench by the window sits a woman in a red coat. She wipes a tear from her eye.
Here by the wall, a silver-haired man in a navy blazer sets down his camera and gives the kind of deep, puffy-cheeked exhale you wish could wash away disappointment.
Here comes a middle-aged woman, her face red, a tear streaming down her face. Her arm is around a friend as she walks, looking for balance.
It’s like a funeral here at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum — only no one died. And then Buck O’Neil, the man everyone is grieving for, walks by with a strut in his step and a smile across his face. He shakes hands, he cracks jokes, and then he walks into a news conference to a standing ovation.
It’s still good to be Buck O’Neil. Sure, it would be slightly better to be O’Neil if that long-awaited phone call Monday told him he had earned election to the National Baseball’s Hall of Fame. But the difference is negligible.
“Shed no tears for Buck,” he said. “No, no. Ol’ God’s been good to me. You can see that, don’t you? If I’m a Hall of Famer for you, that’s all I need. Just keep loving ol’ Buck.”
O’Neil’s failure to be chosen for the shrine in Cooperstown, N.Y., kept him from the same honor he helped so many others receive as the Negro Leagues’ greatest ambassador. Seventeen of the other 38 Negro Leagues players, managers and contributors on the ballot made it, something O’Neil openly applauded and expressed gratitude for.
He needed nine votes from a 12-person special committee that met in Tampa over the weekend and announced its vote Monday. Negro Leagues Museum curator Ray Doswell was one of several who argued on O’Neil’s behalf. He said the baseball official who told O’Neil of the bad news said it was “one of the worst calls I’ve ever had to make.”
Officially, Doswell said, O’Neil was considered as a manager. But the committee gave ample consideration to O’Neil’s contributions and achievements away from the baseball field.
“Honestly, Buck has a lot of fans on this committee,” Doswell said. “I think even the people who didn’t vote for him are his fans, but they decided to vote with their conscience and the high standards of the Hall of Fame.”
The emotions at the museum ran from shock and sadness to confusion and anger. Nobody expected as many as 17 to get in, and most figured Buck to be a near-lock for election. That the committee voted so many in and left O’Neil out gave museum marketing director Bob Kendrick reason to question the process.
O’Neil led the cheer for so many being elected, yet most remained unhappy that Kansas City’s icon was denied. None of the elected is alive, and some hoped O’Neil’s induction could be the music behind the party. You know, give the man the roses while he can still smell them.
“It is clear the Baseball Hall of Fame has made a terrible error in not inducting Buck on this ballot,” said U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver. “I have no idea how you do not include Buck in the Hall of Fame.”
There is thought among many, including Doswell, that O’Neil’s candidacy was hurt by a playing career that was stellar but, in the end, not quite hall-worthy.
While with the Kansas City Monarchs, O’Neil won two Negro Leagues batting titles as a first baseman and managed one of black baseball’s most storied franchises to five pennants. With the Cubs, he discovered Lou Brock and Ernie Banks as a scout and then became the first African-American on a major league baseball coaching staff.
“Who has done more for baseball than this man?” said Banks, a Hall of Famer and the Cubs’ first black player. “I can’t think of a single person more deserving than Buck to get into the Hall of Fame. Just look at the number of people he helped get into the hall. Who are the people that voted on this? How could they leave him out?”
More recently, O’Neil narrated the story of the Negro Leagues in the Ken Burns documentary “Baseball” and continues to spread its history and spirit as the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum’s chairman. He has dedicated himself to raising awareness of the Negro Leagues, always making sure to be friendly and smiling and game for pictures.
His charisma and openness drew in an audience, which he entertained with stories about everything from the ills of segregation to why baseball legend Satchel Paige called him Nancy.
The museum opened in 1990 and gave O’Neil a bigger audience. He travels the country talking to adults and children alike, even appearing with David Letterman.O’Neil put a happy spin on the day, just like always. There was no disappointment, no how-could-they-leave-me-out talk. He focused more on how far America has come, that the grandson of a slave was given a fair chance at the national pastime’s highest honor.
He said not being elected didn’t hurt nearly as much as the real disappointments in his life, like when he was denied attendance at his local segregated high school in Florida. There will be no bitterness from O’Neil, only smiles.
“This won’t stop me,” he said. “I’ve got a whole lot to live for. It would have been ‘Buck O’Neil, Hall of Famer.’ Now it’s just ‘Buck O’Neil,’ which is all right. Or how about ‘Buck O’Neil, humanitarian’? That sounds better anyway.”