like many, i knew next to nothing of buck o'neil until i watched ken burns' "baseball" for the first time. that's a shame. just as he was voted to the hall of fame last month, i picked up this card to represent him in my hall of famer collection:
i wasn't even aware that o'neil had been a coach for the cubs (and appeared on the 1973 topps card as a result) until the 1990's. thankfully, after his star turn on "baseball", learning about o'neil and the negro leagues in general, was much easier.
o'neil became a more highly recognizable ambassador for the game after the documentary aired, and i never tire of watching and listening to his memories of playing baseball and his thoughts surrounding jackie robinson and the integration of the major leagues. he became the first african-american coach in the major leagues when he was hired by the cubs, although despite his managerial experience with the kansas city monarchs, he was not part of the team's rotating manager slot manned by the college of coaches.
what great news for baseball it is to have o'neil enshrined in cooperstown. i just wish it had happened in 2006 when buck was still around to be aware of it, even if buck was ok with the vote back then turning out the way it did.
he was definitely a hall of famer for me.they didn't think buck was good enough to be in the hall of fame. that's the way they thought about it and that's the way it is, so we're going to live with that. now, if i'm a hall of famer for you, that's all right with me. just keep loving old buck. don't weep for buck. no, man, be happy, be thankful.
by the way, i've updated my hall of famer collection on my want site - i decided not to show it in its entirety as part of these posts anymore.