Boys In The Hall: John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil

John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil (1911–2006) loved baseball, and immersed himself in the game from age 12 to 94. A standout Negro League player and two-time batting champion, O'Neil went on to become the first black manager of a major league team.

Kansas City, Mo. - If anybody in baseball ever had every reason to be surly and sullen during his life, Buck O'Neil is that man. Instead, nobody ever saw O'Neil when his face didn't look like a template for the yellow smiley face.

The first time I saw him was when the Cincinnati Reds played an interleague series against the Kansas City Royals. I visited the Negro League Baseball Museum and he was there, a broad smile splashed across his pleasant face.

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Video: Buck O'Neil: 'It's who you are'

When I told him how sorry I was that he was never afforded the opportunity to display his talents in the major leagues because of his skin color, the smile broadened and he said, "You'll never hear me complain about anything because I've had a wonderful life and I'm still living a wonderful life."

At the time, he was in his 80s and as sharp as ever. And he remained that was into his 90s, a man whose memories of life in the Negro Leagues were lucid, vivid and highly entertaining.



After chatting, he handed me a Kansas City Monarchs cap, like the one he wore as a first baseman for the Negro American League team and I cherish it to this day.

Few people, even knowledgeable baseball people, ever heard of O'Neil until he was 84 years old and Ken Burns used him as the spokesman/historian for his documentary, "Baseball." And a legend was born.

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Note: Buck O'Neil of born in Carrabelle, Florida (Franklin County) and earned his high school diploma and two years of college credits from Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, Florida. O'Neil was initially denied the opportunity to attend high school in Sarasota, Florida (Sarasota High School) due to racial segregation. He later moved in with relatives in Jacksonville to finish his education in one of the four schools for blacks in Florida during that period.  His father built the building and his mother and grandmother opened a restaurant in Sarasota in 1934. On May 13, 2006, O'Neil received an honorary doctorate in education from Missouri Western State University where he also gave the commencement speech.