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While baseball commissioner Bud Selig ponders over the fate of the wild card team in the playoffs, the nation said goodbye to a true baseball legend and one of the real good guys, Buck O’Neil. From Sportsline.com…
Don Motley, the museum’s executive director, estimated a steady stream of more than 10,000 people passed by O’Neil’s open casket during the first five hours of the visitation scheduled from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
“They were in line this morning at 5 a.m.,” Motley said. “There was a line about a block long waiting to get in from all walks of life. Some of them had happy eyes, and some of them had tears. Buck was the greatest ambassador baseball ever had.”
Why is Bud Selig the only person not to recognize what O’Neil meant to baseball? The fact that Selig did not make a special case to get O’Neil into Cooperstown is the worst blemish on his controversy-stained resume.
I mentioned this in the “comments” section when Buck passed away, but it is worth repeating. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. O’Neil several years ago. I am embarrassed to admit that at the time, I knew little about him other than he was a former negro league player. I know so much more, and feel like a better person just for having shaken such a great man’s hand.
Rest in Peace Buck, you are in the people’s Hall of Fame
