#MLB rightfully celebrating Negro League’s founding 100 years ago
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“#MLB rightfully celebrating Negro League’s founding 100 years ago”
I was one, notebook in hand.
And walking alongside me was John Jordan O’Neil Jr. — better known as Buck. And though his words, as always, filled that notebook front to back by the time he was done sharing his memories, it was the smile attached to his face that stayed with me afterward, that remains with me to this day.
This was his first time walking through the completed museum: seeing the finished displays, walking amid the statues of his contemporaries — Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Buck Leonard, Josh Gibson. More than any other man, it had been Buck who’d kept their memories alive when it seemed the Negro Leagues were on the verge of dissolving into the fog of history.
More than anyone else, he was responsible for this building — still magnificent 22 years later, still holding court on the historic Kansas City street corner of 18th and Vine, still a must-visit the next time you find yourself in that splendid city. He’d already lived a full and honorable baseball life before he was “discovered” at age 83 thanks to the Ken Burns documentary “Baseball” in 1994. Four years later, still spry, he said, “Hello, old friend!” as he touched Paige’s bronze figure, and then his smile broadened.
“Young people will come here and they’ll fall in love with baseball the way I did as a kid, the way you did as a kid, the way all of us did,” Buck told me. “Yeah. They’ll look around at Satch and Cool Papa and the others, yes sir. And they’ll see, you understand?”
This weekend, Major League Baseball is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Negro National League, which happened in 1920 at Kansas City’s Paseo YMCA. Before the pandemic hit there was supposed to be a spectacular centennial celebration across baseball on June 27, and in one of their few (and possibly final) acts of selfless togetherness, both MLB and the MLBPA made a $1 million donation to the museum back in February.
A few weeks ago in an inspired bit of public relations, the museum helped put together a wonderful series of images and videos of celebrities tipping their caps to salute the Negro Leagues, a spectacle that was highlighted by three former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama — taking part.
Sunday, players across the game will wear a patch commemorating the Negro Leagues and other touches will add to the tenor of what ought to be a joyful day remembering the battalion of players who were denied access to the major leagues prior to Jackie Robinson and 1947.
“The Negro Leagues was all about joy,” O’Neil told me that afternoon 22 years ago. “Yes, sir. You came to watch the fellas play, and you started to smile when you walked in the park and you didn’t stop smiling until it was time to eat dinner later on. That’s what I want. That’s what all of the fellas would want. Think of the Negro League, and let joy fill your heart.”
The museum is a regular stop for a lot of out-of-town ballplayers when they come to Kansas City. Aaron Hicks first went when he was a Twins rookie and he makes a point of going back every year.
“For me, it’s about learning about history,” Hicks told me a few years ago inside the visiting locker room at Kauffman Stadium. “Being an African-American player, just learning the way they played this game, the excitement they brought to their games, the stuff they had to deal with in order just to play baseball. It’s something I appreciate every time I go there.”
He smiled a smile Buck O’Neil would’ve understood.
“It’s a privilege going there,” he said. “A real privilege.”
That would play like a soft jazz riff on a warm summer night to gentleman named Buck O’Neil, who died in 2006 but whose vision and dream will live eternally. Never more vividly than on Sunday afternoon.
Vac’s Whacks
If you are even a slight believer in the idea of sporting karma, then you have to be rooting for the Islanders to deliver a sweep over the Capitals to Barry Trotz. Maybe even Rangers and Devils fans can feel that way (even if they simply keep it to themselves).
I was at the front of the line of those who thought the Nets’ trip to Orlando would be a profound waste of time. Say what you will about the effort some of their opponents might’ve given, but the Nets showed up to play every game, and that was never more on display when, with zero to play for, they nearly ended the Blazers’ season the other night.
Jacob deGrom getting scratched with a sore neck and Aaron Judge landing on the IL within an hour of each other Friday was peak 2020 even for this wicked obstacle course of a baseball season.
I’ve had worse ideas than re-reading “A Drinking Life” for the 10th time to honor the magnificent life of Pete Hamill.
Whack Back at Vac
Bill Miller: With Judge & Stanton, the Yankees were supposed to have the Bash Brothers. Instead we get the M*A*S*H Brothers.
Vac: I think Aaron Boone plays the part of Col. Henry Blake awfully well, too, don’t you?
Michael Keneski: Zach Plesac has to be the early clubhouse leader for tone deaf/irresponsible MLB player of the year right? With firm competition from teammate Mike Clevinger?
Vac: If ever anyone earned an all-expenses-paid trip to the Alternate Site, it would have to be young Mr. Plesac, yes.
@HarryPatz: The strong college attachment (and resulting highs and lows) — to Boston College, in my case — is just another order of magnitude deeper than for the Mets and Jets (which is still pretty deep).
@MikeVacc: As passionate a sports fan as I was growing up, I’ve never invested as much of myself in a team through the years as I have the St. Bonaventure basketball program. I just can’t imagine how college football fans will adapt to a season without college football.
Ken Nussbaum: I’m sure you’ll read a lot of these today, but I’m a 65-year-old New York kid who loved Mickey Mantle the baseball player in the 1960s. We didn’t know as much then about what was going on at night. Nice story about your dad and Yogi.
Vac: Thanks to Ken and the hundreds — literally, hundreds — of folks who wanted to share their Mantle stories with me. I read every word and appreciate every shared memory. What an amazing legacy to leave behind.
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