As postseason action heats up, there is other news from the game of baseball. The most visible link to the Negro Leagues and one of the greatest ambassadors of the game, Buck ONeil has died. He was 94 and died Friday night at a hospital in Kansas City, MO.
ONeil was a big star in the Negro Leagues, playing alongside the likes of Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays, but gained national notoriety among a modern day audience when he was featured in the PBS documentary, Baseball produced by Ken Burns in 1994. A walking historian, he helped bring attention to an aspect of the game forgotten since Major League Baseball integrated in 1947.
A slick-fielding first baseman for the Kansas City Monarchs, he twice won the Negro Leagues batting title, then became a five time pennant-winning manager of that team in the 1940s and 50s. He later became a scout with the Chicago Cubs, signing future Hall of Famers, Lou Brock and Ernie Banks, then became the first black coach in the majors, also with the Chicago team.
Earlier this year, ONeil just missed induction into the Major League Hall of Fame when a special panel selected 17 former players and club officals to be enshrined there.
Nevertheless, he was the driving force behind the formation of the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, and in turn, the museum recently undertook a fundraising campaign to build a Hall of Education wing to be named in his honor.
Buck O’Neil, Negro League baseball great, dies at 94 LINK
Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns LINK
Baseball Elects 18 to the Hall of Fame LINK
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum LINK
Donate to Help Build Bucks Hall of Education LINK