Rantings of a New Yorker

Buck O’Neil died Friday night at a Kansas City Hospital.  He was 94.  He was a goodwill ambassador for the Negro League and missed out on the Hall of Fame by one vote.  This past July, he even batted in a minor league all-star game, making him the oldest man to ever do so.

O’Neil was always optimistic and witty, despite having grown up and played during one of the most racist times of the 20th century.  He played with Satchel Paige but became an even bigger star by traveling the country and telling the stories of other Negro League players.  He came to life for many when Ken Burns featured him in his PBS documentary, Baseball.

“He brought the attention of a lot of people in this country to the Negro Leagues,” former Washington manager Frank Robinson said. “He told us all how good they were and that they deserved to be recognized for what they did and their contributions and the injustice that a lot of them had to endure because of the color of their skin.”

O’Neil won the Negro League batting title twice and was the manager of the Kansas City Monarchs when they won the pennant.  Later, he became a scout for the Chicago Cubs and discovered future hall of famers Lou Brock and Ernie Banks.  In 1962, he became the first black coach in the Major Leagues, serving as the Chicago Cubs’ bench coach.

Buck kept the stories of the Negro Leagues alive and spent the latter years of his life bringing the League back to life for a whole new generation of baseball fans.  No one knows why Buck didn’t make it in the Hall of Fame.  As always, he had a positive word to those who had gathered to celebrate his induction but were silenced when news arrived that he hadn’t made it.

“Shed no tears for Buck,” he told them. “I couldn’t attend Sarasota High School. That hurt. I couldn’t attend the University of Florida. That hurt.

“But not going into the Hall of Fame, that ain’t going to hurt me that much, no. Before, I wouldn’t even have a chance. But this time I had that chance.

“Just keep loving old Buck.”

Many of his friends believe that he was heartbroken but he never showed it.  Instead, he kept moving on and continued to promote baseball.  He saw the good in every man and refused to let things get him down or keep him down.

“God’s been good to me,” he said. “You can see that, can’t you? It didn’t happen. They didn’t think Buck was good enough to be in the Hall of Fame. That’s the way they thought about it and that’s the way it is, so we’re going to live with that. Now, if I’m a hall-of-famer for you, that’s all right with me. Just keep loving old Buck.

“You think about this,” he said. “Here I am, the grandson of a slave. And here the whole world was excited about whether I was going into the Hall of Fame or not. We’ve come a long ways. Before, we never even thought about anything like that. America, you’ve really grown and you’re still growing.”

“I can’t remember a time when I did not want to make my living in baseball, or a time when that wasn’t what I did get to do,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press in 2003. “God was very good to old Buck.”

Indeed, Buck was very good to us.  He helped us to remember our history, good and bad.  He showed us how to rise against the suffering and injustices.  He taught us that life is more about generosity, kindness, and forgiveness than about holding on to hate.  Buck never had children but I say, if you’re a baseball fan, especially a Negro League fan, then you are indeed one of his children and should take heed to not let his memory to pass into forgotten history.