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Buck O’Neil’s selection to Baseball Hall of Fame ‘righted a wrong’ from 2006

Fifteen years after their bitter disappointment, Buck O’Neil’s acolytes had their faith rewarded. The National Baseball Hall of Fame sparked a celebration and spirit of jubilation in Kansas City that likely won’t fully fade for a long time.

O’Neil died months after the Hall of Fame passed him over in 2006, but he never showed any signs of having been disgruntled. Instead, he represented the other 17 former Negro Leagues stars who were selected.

However, many of those close to O’Neil and those who followed his candidacy continued to carry the weight of that disappointment for a decade and a half.

That disappointment came to a raucous end with the news that the Hall of Fame’s Early Era committee selected O’Neil for induction into the Hall of Fame on Sunday.

“Relief” was the first reaction of Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick, who was a close friend of O’Neil and who benefited from O’Neil’s mentorship.

“You’re nervous. You don’t know. You don’t know how votes will ever come out,” Kendrick said. “I learned that in 2006. Because in 2006 I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t think that there was any way that Buck wouldn’t get in.

“This year, I was a little bit better prepared but there’s still the same level of anxiety because you want this to happen. You know what this means to all of his legion of fans that have been with him every step of the way.”

Many of O’Neil’s fans and supporters, including former Kansas City Royals All-Star and World Series champion Frank White, former All-Star outfielder and two-time World Series champion Joe Carter, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and, of course, Kendrick, gathered at the historical beacon he helped establish.

They sat, stood, watched and fidgeted at the Field of Legends, sprinkled among the bronzed life-sized sculptures of the Negro Leagues most storied stars.

Above all, they hoped not to experience heartbreak for a second time.

The scene went from near silence to an eruption of cheers, applause, fists in the air and all types of expression of joy when National Baseball Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch announced O’Neil had been selected as the sixth of six newly elected members of the Hall of Fame.

Among the other selections: Bud Fowler, often acknowledged as the first Black professional baseball player, and Minnie Miñoso, who played for the New York Cubans in the Negro Leagues.

Fixing the mistake of 2006

“It was a low blow,” Carter said of 2006. “I mean it was a punch in the gut because we felt that what he had did for baseball, what he did for the Negro Leagues, he was a great ambassador for the game. As a scout the guys that he had signed, he’s up there with the best of them. …

“When it didn’t happen, I went home and it was a sad day. A lot of politics are involved in a lot of things that shouldn’t be there. If there was ever a no-brainer, it was Buck O’Neil being in the Hall of Fame back in 2006. But they righted a wrong.”

On Sunday, the anxiousness remained right down until the final second, particularly after Rawitch revealed that only two of the 10 Early Era candidates were chosen for enshrinement.

That knowledge triggered the feelings of dread that swept over many with ties to Kansas City and or O’Neil in 2006.

“First when they said only two were selected, I said, ‘Oh my goodness. There are some good names on there,’” said White, a Royals Hall of Fame member and the current Jackson County Executive. “So we were concerned. But once they started reading the credentials and we knew it was Buck, it was like everything from 15 years finally came to a head for us.”

White described Sunday’s selection as having “corrected” the mistake made 15 years earlier by the Hall of Fame.

“Buck had an opportunity at an earlier time to be on the ballot, but he really felt that if he was on the ballot he couldn’t help these other players,” White said. “So he decided to wait. To only miss by one vote, it was very depressing in a way.

“But I think that this sort of rectifies what I think was a wrong. I think it takes Kansas City and everything about this museum and everything about Negro Leagues baseball and brings that credibility to another level.”

The announcement provided an undeniable stamp of validation on O’Neil’s legacy as one of baseball’s transcendent figures for more than 70 years from his days as a player, coach and manager to his career as a scout and his final act as an advocate for the Negro Leagues and spokesperson for his generation of players as well as Kansas City.

O’Neil was a star first baseman in the Negro American League, including a run with the Kansas City Monarchs. He put his career on hold for two years during World War II when he joined the U.S. Navy, but resumed as a player/manager and went on to become a scout and coach for the Chicago Cubs. He became the first Black coach in Major League Baseball while with the Cubs. He became a scout for the Kansas City Royals in 1988.

As a scout, he signed future Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Lou Brock and Lee Smith. He also signed Carter, who went on to author one of the most magical storybook endings in sports history with his walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Carter, who attended Wichita State and makes his home in Leawood, lauded O’Neil’s legacy, particularly the last 10 to 15 years of his life promoting baseball and the Negro Leagues.

“His legacy was big (already),” Carter said. “We knew that here in Kansas City. The world finally saw it with all the documentaries they did on him. Now, it will get a little bit bigger. But in our minds he was always the biggest. This is just something that’s icing on the cake.”

A boost for the museum

O’Neil helped establish the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, and he served as the board chairman until his death in October 2006 at age 94.

O’Neil’s election figures to only provide more notoriety and attention to the museum with each mention of his exploits and accomplishments.

Kendrick said he hopes the Hall of Fame selection will provide a greater impetus to completing the Buck O’Neil Research and Education Center.

“It’s monumental,” Kendrick said of O’Neil’s election. “This is one of the most important moments in recent museum history. We look at milestones in this organization. One of those milestones was the death of Buck O’Neil.

“We knew then when Buck passed away in October of 2006 that was going to be one of the biggest things to happen to this museum. What happened? People galvanized around this museum. The support level went up even more because they wanted to remember Buck.”

Kendrick hopes this selection will provide another “galvanizing” moment for the museum and will get a warm reception from the fundraising community. He asserted O’Neil’s spirit will guide them in their future efforts.