The Chris Moeller Archives

The Great Buck O'Neil

I saw Buck O'Neil in person a couple times. The 94-year-old veteran of the Negro Leagues-- and quite possibly baseball's greatest ambassador for the last 12 years-- was a common sight at Kauffman Stadium in his hometown of Kansas City, and my visits there have tended to coincide with Negro Leagues ceremonies and remembrances on the field. (Probably, this is because the Royals schedule these to coincide with games against the Cardinals, when they draw their largest crowds. I see all of the Royals' Negro Leagues tributes and 1985 World Series anniversaries.) A couple years ago, O'Neil was on the diamond, catching the ceremonial first pitch rolled to home plate by another Negro Leagues great, 101-year-old Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe. But even without Radcliffe as the control group, O'Neil was spry and energetic in his early 90s.

A former batting champion and manager, O'Neill has been the greatest storyteller of the game for the last decade, in an era when the art of old storytelling and attention span baseball has too often otherwise been brushed aside for a new kind of game with "FOX Attitude." He stole the show in Ken Burns' 1994 PBS epic miniseries "Baseball," educating much of contemporary white and black America for the first time on the likes of Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Rube Foster, Oscar Charleston, and Satchel Paige, and recounting the extraordinary triumph of Jackie Robinson. O'Neil then began popping up on late night talk shows to tell his stories, and raise awareness and donations for the Negro Leagues Museum that he made a reality in Kansas City.

Many seamheads were furious when O'Neil was not inducted into the Hall of Fame this past year, along with 17 other greats of the old Negro Leagues (missing induction by only one vote,) but O'Neil appeared in Cooperstown to speak on behalf of those players (none of the 17 were still living) and he never showed a hint of anger or resentment, just as he never publicly expressed bitterness about having been excluded from the Major Leagues as a player. (His autobiography was entitled, "I Was Right On Time.")

His mission was never to bring attention to himself anyway. I find it strange now that I know so little about his career, actually, considering how visible he has been. As a player, manager, coach, and scout, his mission was always to compete and entertain. During his "retirement," it was to educate and enlighten the public, to bring long-denied glory, not to himself, but to his former teammates and opponents, and to spread as much love and spirit as he could in his short time. He died last night of exhaustion.

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My favorite Buck O'Neil anecdote is the story of how Satchel Paige gave him his nickname:

"Well, he called me Nancy because of something that happened once. We were up on an Indian reservation in North Dakota and Satchel met an Indian maiden there, and her name was Nancy. So Satchel invited Nancy to come to Chicago to see him. He didn't know that Lahoma, who was going to be his wife, was coming to Chicago. So Nancy got there and she was up in Satchel's room, naturally. And we were down in the restaurant and here comes Lahoma up in a cab. So I go up to Satchel's room, and say, 'Lahoma's downstairs,' He says, 'Okay. Do something with Nancy.'

"I was in a room next to Satchel, so I got a room right next to me for Nancy. So, after Satchel got Lahoma bedded down that night, he wanted to say something to Nancy. So he got up and was knocking on the door to Nancy's room. He was knocking and saying, 'Nancy, Nancy, Nancy.' Now, Lahoma woke up and came to her door. And I heard Lahoma, so I rushed out of the door and said, 'Here I am, Satchel.' And he said, 'Oh, Nancy, there you are. I've been looking for you.' So, ever since then, I've been Nancy."

posted by CM @ 10:11 AM