July 19, 2006
BUCK 94:
O'Neil to play in minor league all-star game (AP, 7/18/06)
John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil never got a free pass in life.Posted by Orrin Judd at July 19, 2006 12:12 AMThe grandson of a man brought to this continent as a slave, O'Neil moved to Kansas City to avoid racial persecution in the Deep South and played baseball during an era of segregation.
It figures that on Tuesday night, when the 94-year-old steps into the batter's box during a minor league all-star game, nobody will quibble over an intentional walk.
Except maybe O'Neil.
"I just might take a swing at one," he said before Tuesday night's Northern League event. [...]
"I imagine the bat's a little heavier than that club I've been swinging," said O'Neil, who maintains he can still shoot his age in golf. "It's been a long time since I've picked up a bat."
The Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame is in Kansas City and it is interesting and certainly something to see if one is a baseball fan. My only complaint is that it is not big enough (although it is a new facility). It shares the building with a Jazz Hall of Fame.
I saw the footage of Mr. O'Neil and he is in amazing shape for 94.
Posted by: pchuck at July 19, 2006 8:55 AMHe also belongs in the Hall of Fame. It is shameful that the committee that recently added several lesser lights from the Negro Leagues saw fit to leave him out.
As a player he appears to have been a Mark Grace type of player, a line drive hitter and excellent fielder. On his play alone he's probably a little short but his contributions beyond his playing days should seal the deal.
He would not be the first HOF member to make it on a combination of on-field and off-field accomplishments. Al Lopez and Monte Ward immediately come to mind.
Posted by: jeff at July 19, 2006 9:41 AMoj,
Leave it to the Minor's to continue to show the world what baseball is really about.
I'll pay to watch an "A" team before a "double A" which I'd pay before a "triple A" which, since I'd never pay to see a "major", pretty much ends my involvement with baseball.
BTW, all was different for me prior to the Curt Flood free agency court rulings.
Mike