Buck O'Neil
There's a traveling museum dedicated to the Negro Leagues that is making the rounds of 27 major league parks this season. It was in Houston on Saturday, and I got to meet Mr. O'Neil (and he autographed a ball for me!) as part of the dedication. What a guy, flirting with the ladies, playing with the kids ("You play ball, son? Go long!") and giving everyone who came by all the time they wanted. He and I reminisced about Pittsburgh (which had two teams, the Grays and the Crawfords).
Gave a great, inspiring speech, complete with a hand-holding sing along ("You white folks sing pretty good!"). When they told us he was 93 years old, no one could believe it. :wow: He said he did not hate because he played in a segregated league - he got to play with some of the best players ever.
Also said that he doesn't hate
people ("God made everyone beautiful." (then to a guy in the crowd: "You can be ugly if you want, but God didn't make you that way.")) :D
Great great man. Played and managed the Kansas City Monarchs, and even coached with the Cubs for a while.
If you can get to the Negro League Museum, I recommend it highly. You don't even need to be a baseball fan to appreciate the courage and excellence of the men who played.
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/mlb_negro_leagues_story.jsp?story=legendFor more on the traveling museum:
http://www.roadway.com/baseball/times_of_greatness.html