Happy 100th Buck!

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Buck O'Neil. O'Neil played for and managed the Kansas City Monarchs. Buck was also a scout and the first African-American coach in MLB history. Joe Posnanski's book on Buck, The Soul of Baseball, is one of my favorite baseball books of all-time. It is chock full of O'Neils penchant for storytelling and his drive to keep the memory of the Negro Leagues history intact. When Shira and I visited Kansas City we visited the Negro League Baseball Museum which Buck helped establish and where he could often be found. O'Neil also played an important role in the induction of six Negro Leaguers to the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, yet that honor alluded him when the Hall opened its doors to 17 others (see picture). O'Neil did not cry foul yet was involved in the honoring ceremony. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 94 and was honored posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by the Hall of Fame in his honor in 2008 and will be granted every three years. In 2011 it was awarded to former MLB exec Roland Hemond. Check out this video of Olberman and Buck to get an understanding of the class that Buck exuded throughout his lifetime.

N.L.B.M.

The Negro League Baseball Museum is located in Kansas City. It is not a Hall of Fame but a history of the defunct league that existed before and for a brief time after Jackie Robinson's debut in MLB. At the time of our visit Buck O'Neil was still alive but he was not at the museum. Last year Buck passed away, ever the gentlemen Buck was never publicly miffed at not being placed into Cooperstwon Hall. Hopefully one of these days MLB will get it right and honor Buck O'Neil. The NLBM shares the premises with the Jazz Musuem and is well worth the visit if one is ever in KC.