BUCK O'NEIL

The question is inevitable. Whenever people ask me about the Negro Leagues, it always comes up. ''So, do you think Buck O Neil should be in the Hall of Fame?'' A pregnant pause. Well... He had decent power, won a batting title once, but had only average speed and while his defense was good, it wasn't great. Was he a very good player? Yes, and on top of that he managed the Kansas City Monarchs for 8 years and after that he scouted the Chicago Cubs and signed both Ernie Banks and Lou Brock. As part of the Cubs ill-fated College of Coaches (an experiment in which eight Cubs coaches rotated as manager). Buck became the first African American to be a Major League coach. All of these things are pluses, but the fact remains that Cooperstown has been slow in recognizing Negro League talent and there are plenty of more deserving Negro Leaguers on the outside looking in. It would be wrong to have Buck O'Neil in the Hall of Fame while the others, better players, aren't. But as the conversation ends, I walk away happy. Ever since Ken Burns' Baseball when people think of the Negro Leagues, they think of Buck O'Neil.

A while back my university gave Dan Quayle $25,000 to speak for one hour. I was rather upset. The last thing these private school kids need to hear is a speech by some potatoe head who got where he was because his daddy had lots of money. At that point I started working on my Short List of people with messages I would want the kids to hear. One day I was going over my List with a friend and he raised an objection that hadn't passed my mind---"Have you ever heard any of these people speak?" Hmmm...No. And it would look really bad if, say, Rosa Parks turned out to be a poor public speaker. Several months later, my Short List became a List of One. I had heard the words of John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil.

There is a warmth, a joy of life, that just flows from this man. He emphasizes positives, not negatives. He speaks of how he grew up in the celery fields of Florida, how baseball took him from that miserable life and brought him to Kansas City. There he played first base for the Monarchs and rubbed shoulders with all the greats of baseball and jazz. He talks of travels with Satchel Paige. And he relates how a rookie by the name of Jackie Robinson taught the Monarchs how to change their world for the better. Any gas station that wouldn't let them use the facilities due to their color wasn't going to get the privilege of making a 100-gallon gasoline sale. Also recounted is the tale of how Buck once found another rookie holding a newspaper upsidedown. He and Hilton Smith taught the young man how to read. When you listen to Buck, you are reminded of the things that are good. Your remember to look at life with a smile, that although there may be clouds from time to time, there are always those silver linings.

Ken Burns¹ film was flawed. It spent too much time talking about Brooklyn and Boston and it was rife with historical blunders. But, it introduced the world to Buck O'Neil. Since the premiere of the film, Buck has become a celebrity, with a new biography on the shelves. Its title - " I Was Right On Time.'' This is in contrast with many Negro League players who felt they were born "too early'', hence missing their chance at integrated careers in the Majors. Well, I'm glad I was born early enough to have met Buck O'Neil. If there was a Hall of Fame for being an outstanding human being, he would be in on the first ballot.