Somewhere, Buck O'Neil is Smiling

   In our beautiful memory

   We were all handsome

   We all could sing

   We all had the heart 

   Of the prettiest girl in town

   And we all hit .300  -Buck O'Neil

One hundred years ago, on November 13, 1911, one of baseball's greatest ambassadors was born in a tiny town on the Gulf Coast in western Florida.  John Jordan O'Neil, better known as "Buck" to baseball fans, "Cap" to his Kansas City Monarchs teammates and "Nancy" to Satchel Paige, was a Negro League ballplayer (winning the batting title in 1940 and 1946), a coach (managing the Monarchs to four pennants and two championships, and becoming the first black coach in the Major Leagues), and an excellent scout (bringing Lou Brock, Ernie Banks and Joe Carter among others to the majors).  More importantly though, Buck was a great man.   He spent the waning years of his life tirelessly and selflessly touring the country spreading the gospel of the Negro Leagues, and giving a voice to those that passed on before him.  In 1990, Buck co-founded the Negro League Baseball Museum on the corner of 18th & Vine in Kansas City, which shares a roof with the American Jazz Museum (Buck's other passion).  He was a member of the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee, where he stumped for forgotten Negro Leaguers to make it to Cooperstown, but never advocated for his own induction.  

In early 2006, a panel of 12 Negro League experts was put together to right the wrongs of the past and induct whomever they felt deserved to be enshrined in Cooperstown.  Buck was not asked to be a member of the panel, as it was presumed he would be atop the list of men (and one woman) that were going to finally get their due.  Well, as it turned out, Buck was not one of the 17 people chosen that day.  Inexplicably, he missed the cut by one vote.  In the days that followed, there was plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth across the country from newspaper columnists, television personalities, baseball legends, and even politicians - but not from Buck.  Sure, he was disappointed, but in true Buck fashion, he did not let bitterness get the better of him.  Buck accepted the invitation to speak on behalf of those that were elected instead of him.  By the time his speech ended, Buck had the entire crowd holding hands, singing the chorus of his favorite gospel song: 

"The greatest thing ... in all my life ... is loving you."  

Buck died a few months later in Kansas City, shortly before his 95th birthday.  In 2008, Buck finally made it to Cooperstown.  Although it was two years too late, there is now a life size statue of Buck and no more than every three years, the Hall of Fame will now present the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, to honor those who enhance baseball's positive contributions to society and broaden the game's appeal.

Buck was the voice of black baseball, constantly reminding us of the glory days of the Negro Leagues, as he would always say, "We could really play!"  Now that he is gone, others need to pick up where Buck left off and continue to keep that voice heard.  Recently, the fine folks at SeamHeads.com have begun a project to compile statistics (including WAR, wOBA, OPS+ and Win Shares) for the various Negro leagues.  The Negro League Database is still a work in progress as of now, but upon its completion it will be the first encyclopedic collection of Negro League stats available anywhere.  I'm sure this would make Buck smile.

So, happy birthday Buck.  I hope wherever you are there's a ball field to play on, and it's always Summertime.