Sports at Lunch, Buck O'Neil

John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil talked baseball and much more when he spoke at the Hall of Champions Sports at Lunch Speaker Series before a large gathering of nearly 200 guests on July 2 on Center Court at the sports museum.

He discussed the value of education while directing his comments toward eyeing younger members of the audience. He told funny stories from his days as a player and manager in the Negro Leagues. He described the feats of legends such as Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. And he even sang a couple songs, one to open his talk and one to close it.

“Cool Papa Bell could fly,” O’Neil said. “Satchel used to say he could turn out the lights and cover up before the room got dark.”

Buck O’Neil captivated those in attendance at what turned out to be one of the liveliest Sports at Lunch afternoons in recent memory. O’Neil currently chairs the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Board of Directors and serves on the Veterans’ Committee of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He visited San Diego the week of the Kansas City Royals series with the Padres July 2-4 at Petco Park.

O’Neil plans a return visit to San Diego for the opening of the Shades of Greatness exhibit at the Hall of Champions. The Shades of Greatness exhibit is from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City that will be at the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum in Balboa Park from July 25 to Sept. 18.

Kadir Nelson, one of the artists whose work will be on display, is a San Diego resident who also attended the Sports at Lunch afternoon with O’Neil. O’Neil is in his 90s, but he entertained the audience with the energy of a man decades younger.

He was a star player in the Negro Leagues, leading the Kansas City Monarchs to Negro American League and Negro World Series titles. He also was later a manager with the Kansas City Monarchs. After Jackie Robinson broke the color line in baseball in 1947, O’Neil’s former Negro League players who went on to play in the Major Leagues included Ernie Banks, Elston Howard and Sweet Lou Johnson.

He later became a scout in the Major Leagues with the Chicago Cubs in 1956, and the Cubs made him the first African-American coach in the Major Leagues in 1962.

O’Neil emphasized he was never bitter about being barred from the Major Leagues in his playing days. He repeated many times that today is always the best day of a person’s life. Then he asked everyone to hold hands and sing with him before finishing his talk.

“The greatest thing in all my life is loving you,” was the refrain, and everyone sang along as old manager instructed.