John Buck O'Neil

John Buck O'Neil

Introduction

John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil (November 13, 1911 - October 6, 2006) was a first baseman and manager in Negro league baseball, most notably in the Negro American League with the Kansas City Monarchs. After his playing days, he became the first African American coach in Major League Baseball, and also worked as a scout. In his later years he became a popular and renowned speaker and interview subject, helping to renew widespread interest in the Negro leagues, and played a major role in establishing the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.[1]

Playing career

Born in rural Carrabelle, Florida, O'Neil was initially denied the opportunity to attend high school due to racial segregation; at the time, Florida had only four high schools specifically for African Americans. However, after working a summer in a celery field with his father, O'Neil left home to live with relatives and attend Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, where he completed high school and two years of college courses.

He was the second of three children born to John Sr., a sawmill worker, and Luella, a restaurant manager. The family moved to Sarasota in 1923. It was there that O'Neil received his first taste of professional baseball.

As a 12-year-old, O'Neil began his semi-professional career as a member of the Sarasota Tigers and traveled throughout Florida. To support himself, he shined shoes and worked as a box boy. O'Neil related a pivotal moment in his life to Steve Wulf of Sports Illustrated, "I was considered a good box boy because, while most of the box boys could only carry two crates at a time, I was big and strong enough to carry four. I did that for about three years, at $1.25 a day. One day I was having lunch by myself next to a big stack of boxes, and it was so hot, I said out loud, 'Damn, there has got to be something better than this.'" That "something," O'Neil decided, was baseball. (O'Neil 2004:22-25)

He left Florida in 1934 for several years of semi-professional "barnstorming" experiences (playing interracial exhibition games)[1], where one of his teammates was the legendary Satchel Paige. The effort paid off, and in 1937, O'Neil signed with the Memphis Red Sox for their first year of play in the newly-formed Negro American League. His contract was sold to the Monarchs the following year.[2]

The players called him Skip, for Buck O'Neil was the captain of the ship that sent more Negro League veterans ashore to the white Majors than any man in baseball history. His crew included such Major League standouts as Ernie Banks, George Altman, Gene Baker, Francisco Herrera, Elston Howard, J.C. Hartman, Connie Johnson, Sweet Lou Johnson, Satchel Paige, Hank Thompson and Bob Thurman.

Buck was nicknamed after the co-owner of the semi-pro Miami Giants, Buck O'Neil . He played briefly in 1937 with the Memphis Red Sox, before joining the Kansas City Monarchs for the remainder of his stellar career. Only a two-year tour with the ...