Buck O’Neil, the beloved late Negro Leagues baseball and Kansas City icon, was officially enshrined on Sunday at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
The afternoon ceremony at the Hall of Fame included O’Neil’s presentation by his niece, Dr. Angela Terry. O’Neil died in October 2006 at the age of 94 after persevering through withering racism, helping found Kansas City’s signature Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and inspiring untold generations worldwide.
And now, even more will know of the triumph, grace and humility that helped define this giant of a man who became synonymous with Black baseball and the Kansas City Monarchs, yet never was boastful of, nor self-promoting in, his accomplishments.
“As one of Uncle John’s heirs, I’m appreciative of this opportunity to express our family’s deepest gratitude,” Dr. Terry said. “... If Uncle John were here with us this afternoon, his usual spirit of humility and gratefulness would be on full display.”
Dr. Terry’s speech included a fitting nod to Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendick, who had tirelessly championed O’Neil’s Hall of Fame cause since the former longtime player/manager was passed over for induction by one vote shortly before his death.
On Sunday, that historical wrong was joyously righted. O’Neil was enshrined along with fellow former stars David Ortiz, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Minoso, Tony Oliva and Bud Fowler.
At Kauffman Stadium, where the Royals played the Tampa Bay Rays in an afternoon series finale on Sunday, a video of O’Neil singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame was shown on the Crown Vision board during the seventh-inning stretch.
Tributes to the baseball legend have poured in all week via social media, though the pace of their arrival certainly quickened on Sunday after everything was made official.
Kansas City Star sports columnist Vahe Gregorian is on site at the ceremony in upstate New York today, and we’ll have much more about the momentous occasion soon at Kansascity.com.
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