Transitions: John O'Neil
 

John who??

You probably know him as Buck O'Neil, who played coached, and managed in the Negro Leagues, and became the first ever Black coach of a Major League baseball team when the Cubs hired him in 1962.

O'Neil managed the Kansas City Monarchs to the Negro League championships on two separate occasions, and also won a batting title as a player.

After retiring from active baseball O'Neil became a scout and signed future Hall of Famers Lou Brock and Ernie Banks.

O'Neil became active in the cause of promoting the history of Negro League Baseball and in 1990, served as the honorary chairman of the Negro League Baseball Museum, a role he held till his passing.

When renowned documentary director Ken Burns produced his famous documentary Baseball for PBS, O'Neil was selected to offer a compelling history of the Negro Leagues, which returned him to national prominence.

When the Baseball Hall of Fame announced that it was going to conduct a special ballot for the Negro Leagues, it was widely thought that O'Neil would be a shoo-in for election. O'Neil however, missed becoming elected on the special ballot by one vote; he did however represent those who could not attend, at the Induction Ceremony.

In the summer of 2006, at the age of 94, Buck O'Neil became the 2nd oldest person to play in a professional baseball game, when he took a base on balls, one for each team, of the Northern League All-Star game.

He was from an area just south of here. My 3rd graders have been learning about the Negro leagues this past week. I'm going to bring in the article in my paper to show them how close to home this really was.

1nutworld,

Thank you! I hadn't heard.

R.I.P. Mr. O'Neil