John “Buck” O’Neil, who was (finally) elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame this week, became the first Black coach in the major leagues when he signed on with the Cubs in 1962. That was a significant accomplishment in its own right, but it ranks as little more than a footnote when one considers the full sweep of O’Neil’s career—which stretched from his first taste of semi-pro ball in 1924 (at age 12) to his retirement as a part-time scout in 2006 (the same year he passed away at 94).
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| BUCK O'NEIL AS A CUBS COACH. |
Much of O’Neil’s career was spent in the Negro American League, most notably as a player, manager, and executive with the Kansas City Monarchs. In the latter capacity, he helped engineer the Cubs’ acquisition of Ernie Banks from the Monarchs in 1953. He later served as a scout for the Cubs, signing Lou Brock, Oscar Gamble, Lee Smith, and Joe Carter, among others, and acting as a mentor and confidante to Billy Williams.
In 1994, O’Neil stole the show in Ken Burns’s acclaimed PBS documentary series Baseball. His ebullient personality and riveting stories fascinated millions of people who had never heard of him before.
Around the same time, he co-founded America’s Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City and donated his own personal memorabilia to get the museum started.
In 2005, the National Baseball Hall of Fame set up a special committee to select previously overlooked Negro Leagues players and owners for induction. Incredibly, O’Neil did not make the cut—but, generous even to a fault, he showed up on induction day at Cooperstown and spoke eloquently on behalf of the 16 men and one woman who were selected.
“I’m not bitter,” O’Neil said at the time. “My grandfather was a slave. He was not bitter. I learned that from him. And you know what? I wouldn’t trade my life for anybody’s.”
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