Sunday was baseball legend Buck O'Neil’s
birthday.
O’Neal died in 2006 at the age of 94 – he was
born in Carrabelle on November the 13th, 1911.
Buck O’Neil spent nearly 80 years around
professional baseball, starting in the negro leagues and becoming the first
black coach in Major League baseball.
He broke into the Negro American League with
the Memphis Red Sox in 1937, then played first base for the Kansas City
Monarchs starting in 1938 helping the Monarchs capture four consecutive Negro
American League pennants.
In 1948, O’Neil was named player-manager of the
Monarchs before becoming a scout for the Chicago Cubs.
The franchise promoted him to their major
league coaching staff in 1962, making him the first Black coach to serve on an
AL or NL roster.
O’Neil was also a driving force in the creation
of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum which was established in 1990.
O’Neil served as its first chairman.
O-Neil was enshrined into the National Baseball
Hall of Fame in July, a long overdue honor.
In 2008 the Baseball Hall of Fame also created
the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award to honor individuals whose efforts
enhance baseball's positive impact on society, has broadened the game's appeal,
and whose character, integrity and dignity are comparable to the qualities
exhibited by O'Neil.
O’Neil received the first award posthumously
and the award is now presented to a worthy recipient no more than every three
years.
Buck O'Neil also has a statue in his honor as
well as a baseball field named after him at the Will Kendrick Sports Complex in
Carrabelle.
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