An undefeated life

One of an occasional series

March 2006

Maybe it’s just a case of a man with the boundless energy of a kid who never fully grew up, the by–product of having devoted one’s entire life to a kid’s game. Or maybe it’s the feeling that, at the age of 94, he really doesn’t have time to stand still.

Whatever it is that keeps him more perpetual motion than the Energizer Bunny, the fact is that even now, you only catch Buck O’Neil coming or going.

We caught him going, on his way out the door at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, and he graced us with a few precious minutes.

Former player and manager in the old Negro Leagues, he is the voice, the face and the board chairman of the Museum. Energy and personality for days, and a shameless flirt; just ask Irene!

You get the feeling that something in his soul won’t let him stop smiling. Seems to genuinely enjoy people as much as they enjoy him. Never stops moving. A wonderful ambassador for the game. If you can be in his presence longer than four seconds without feeling good, check your pulse. You may be dead.

After all these years, he still lives in Kansas City’s black neighborhood, still drives his Cadillac himself to his seemingly endless string of meetings and appointments. The years have bent his posture, but clearly not his spirit.

That this man isn’t in Cooperstown is only the most recent of the injustices inflicted upon him by baseball. The arguments against it, namely upholding the “pedigree” of the Hall and its inductees, are as transparent as they are lame.

In the end, Buck O’Neil had more love for the game of baseball than the game ever had for him. That is at once his tragedy, his triumph and his legacy. As for those who barred his way to the majors, the loss is theirs.

But he doesn’t care about any of that — or if he does, he hides it brilliantly. He smiles and soldiers on for the sake of the game that still defines his life, without a trace of rancor or bitterness.

It is debatable whether racism ultimately got the best of Buck O’Neil. Clearly, however, it never broke him. That in itself is reason enough to celebrate this remarkable man.