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Sports

2006 Baseball Hall of Fame class missing someone

Duke of Orleans

Ben Gegenheimer 

On July 18, former Negro League baseball star Buck O'Neil stepped into the batter's box during a minor league all-star game in Kansas City, Kan. In doing so, the 94-year-old became the oldest professional baseball player ever.

As planned, O'Neil drew an intentional walk, but not before he jokingly argued with the umpire and took at least one swing. Not bad for a man who hadn't swung a bat in a professional contest since 1955.

Although O'Neil's appearance in the Northern League All-Star game bordered on a gimmick, it was simply Buck being Buck, giving back to a game that has not given him a whole hell of a lot over the years.

O'Neil was born Nov. 13, 1911, in Carrabelle, Fla. as the grandson of a man who was brought to this continent as a slave. Due to racial segregation, O'Neil was denied the opportunity to attend high school. In order to avoid racial persecution in the Deep South, he eventually moved to Kansas City as a young man.

O'Neil played baseball during the era of segregation and was not allowed to compete in the Major Leagues. In the late 1930s, he joined the Kansas City Monarchs of the newly-formed Negro American League.

Negro League competition featured speed, surprise and more showmanship than organized baseball, but was the stepping stone for legendary Negro League players and Major League Hall of Famers Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson, both of whom were teammates of O'Neil's as members of the Monarchs during the 1940s. 

Paige, Robinson and O'Neil formed a lifelong friendship as three of the top ambassadors for black baseball players over the years. By the time Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, becoming the first black Major League baseball player, O'Neil was in the twilight of his career, never having played big league ball.

O'Neil posted a lifetime batting average of .288 and was a two-time Negro League batting champion. He also played in four East-West All-Star games and two Negro League World Series. A World War II tour with the U.S. Navy from 1943-1945 briefly interrupted his playing career.

O'Neil would eventually crack into Major League baseball as a scout in the late 1950s and he became the first black coach in MLB history when the Chicago Cubs hired him in 1962. 

In 1990, he led the effort to establish the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo. and still serves as its honorary board chairman. 

This weekend, the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inducted its largest class ever, including 17 former executives and players from baseball's segregated past, all of whom are deceased. 

The 17 inductees were selected following a five-year study of the old Negro Leagues by a special committee from the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. The committee first compiled a list of 94 candidates before narrowing it down to the final 17. 

This is said to be the last such special election ever. O'Neil did not make the cut. However, it was not the color of his skin that held him back this time, but rather a committee of idiots who just don't seem to get it.

The committee's decision not to include the only great Negro League ball player still alive actually coincides with the ignorance of those who oversee Major League baseball. Quite frankly, with respect to O'Neil, it is a league run by good ‚Äòole boys who just can't give a good ‚Äòole man a break. 

Perhaps O'Neil's statistics aren't the greatest, but that's not what this is about. If Ty Cobb, the most hated and ridiculed Major League baseball player ever, can make it into the Hall of Fame based solely on his stats, then there should be a spot for O'Neil based upon his legendary status and passion for the game, regardless of his numbers.

Many believe that if it weren't for Robinson, O'Neil may have been the first black Major League ball player. But, by his own admittance, O'Neil claims that Robinson was and should have been the man to do so for many reasons, including his age, talent and composure. It's too bad for O'Neil that after everything he's done for the game, he's still not worthy of a spot in the great hall. 

But don't worry about Buck. Although he would have liked to have been the only living member of the newly inducted class, he won't cry about it. He never has. Instead, he joined the celebration in Cooperstown and shared great stories and experiences as only he can do.

In the end, a great career in the Negro Leagues was not enough. His service during World War II apparently didn't mean a thing. Becoming the oldest pro baseball player didn't help his cause either. 

Perhaps his only hope is the class of high school kids from Seattle who are pedaling bikes 3,100 miles to the Negro League Museum, collecting signatures on petitions along the way to get O'Neil on the Cooperstown ballot for next year. 

It is sad that O'Neil won't get to see the day when he is enshrined in Cooperstown. But what's even worse is that Major League Baseball is willing to wait until he dies before they give him what he deserves.

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