Community honors legendary personality
Sean Comstock, posted Nov. 20, 2006
“Buck was perhaps the greatest ambassador baseball has ever known. He was a giant of a man whose wisdom, kindness and generosity of spirit will live on forever in all those whom he touched and those who touched him,” said Chairwoman Jane Forbes Clark in a statement released Oct. 13 by the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Clark said the board of directors for the museum planned to honor the legacy of the late Buck O’Neil and his, “lasting contributions to the game.” O’Neil died on Oct. 6 in Kansas City, Mo., at the age of 94 due to complications of congestive heart failure.
Fans gathered in remembrance of O’Neil on Nov. 11 at the historic Gem Theatre in Kansas City to celebrate his 95th birthday and to raise funds for O’Neil’s initiative to renovate a YMCA in Kansas City where the Negro Leagues were first established in 1920. While $1.5 million has been raised, the Hall of Fame hopes to attain nearly $15 million for the project.
“I can’t remember a time when I did not want to make my living playing baseball or a time when that wasn’t what I did get to do,” said legendary baseball player and beloved public figure Buck O’Neil in the 1994 groundbreaking documentary, “Baseball.”
Buck’s death came nearly eight months after the controversial vote in which he fell one vote short of being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This decision came as a great shock to many who knew of O’Neil and his stellar achievements not only on the baseball diamond, but the historically significant racial barriers that he broke during his career.
O’Neil played briefly for the Memphis Red Sox in 1937 before joining the Kansas City Monarchs for the rest of his career. Among O’Neil’s accomplishments are batting titles in 1940 and 1946, boasting averages of .345 and .350. Buck also led the Monarchs to the Negro American League title in a dominating series in which he averaged .353.
During his career, O’Neil played alongside fellow legends such as Satchel Paige, Sweet Lou Robinson, Ernie Banks and Fransisco Herrera. While Paige was the first African-American to play in the major leagues, O’Neil was the first one to manage a team when he replaced Frank Duncan as manager of the Monarchs in 1948. During his time as manager, Buck led the Monarchs to league titles in 1948, 1950, 1951 and 1953. In 1963, O’Neil was recruited as a scout for the Chicago Cubs and soon after became the first African-American to coach a major league team. O’Neil returned as a scout for the Kansas City Royals in 1988 and remained there until his death.
O’Neil held a chair on the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Board of Directors along with the Veteran’s Committee of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Aside from his accomplishments on the field, O’Neil also served a stint in the United States Navy.
When Buck was born in Carrabelle, Fla., he was denied the opportunity to attend high school as a result of racial discrimination. O’Neil was forced to leave his home to complete high school and several college courses at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville. During his time in the public eye, Buck made no attempt to ignore his rough past and often ran into resentment among elderly African-Americans for his outspoken recollection of the terrible anguish of segregation and racism that African-Americans experienced in America’s recent past.
Ken Burns stated in his documentary “Baseball,” “It is not so much that he put suffering behind him, as that he brought gold and light out of bitterness and despair, loneliness, and suffering. He knows he can go farther with generosity and kindness than with anger and hate.”
A private funeral was held Oct. 7 preceded by a public visitation to honor O’Neil at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium. O’Neil had no children and is survived by his brother, Warren O’Neil. O’Neil’s complete biography can be found at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Web site.
