R.I.P Buck O'Neil

I was saddened to learn last night via the Bottom Line on ESPN that Buck O'Neil had passed. Buck was probably the most famous Kansas Citian, certainly the most loved. It's like a piece of the city died. But, I know that Buck O'Neil meant a lot to people outside of Kansas City as well. Wright Thompson, a former KC Star reporter, has a nice tribute to Buck on ESPN.

We've all lost that magnificent baritone voice now, and the world is poorer for it. Not in the way we normally are when a famous person dies. No, O'Neil's voice was truly a gift to all of us. It taught us that love is more important than hate. It taught us that forgiveness is more important than bitterness. It taught us to live life now, to eat dessert always, to never let a red dress pass by.

When he didn't get into the Hall of Fame this year, people rightfully howled. As the news reached him, a final denied dream in a life full of dreams denied, he just smiled.

"God's been good to me," he said that day. "If I'm a Hall of Famer for you, that's all right with me. Just keep loving old Buck. Don't weep for Buck. No, man, be happy, be thankful."

On a day that should have been the pinnacle of a life dedicated to helping others, he showed up at the podium in Cooperstown anyway to help honor the Negro Leaguers who did make the cut, and he led the crowd in a song that will never be heard again:

"The greatest thrill Â… in all my life Â… is loving you."

He sang those words to the folks there and to those at home. Sitting here now, trying to imagine a world without Buck, I can't stop thinking about that song. As a former reporter for The Kansas City Star, I had my share of interaction with Buck. I heard him make cynical school children stand and sing in loud voices. It's clear to me now that knowing and loving Buck has been the greatest thrill in my professional life. It's been a thrill for all of us who knew and loved Buck, either in person or in spirit.

Thompson felt it appropriate to point out that he worked in KC in his national article. I think that's appropriate, Buck was one of those people that made you proud to be a Kansas Citian. He was our own and we loved him.

I met Buck once and got my picture taken with him. He had taken hundreds of pictures with people that day (it was a Royals open house) but, he took the time to ask my name and several other questions. He was particularly interested in the girl I was with, I remember.

Sometimes I would see Buck at Royals games and I would wave, he would wave back like he knew me. It always made me feel like he remembered me from the day we took that picture. I think he made everyone feel that way whenever he was around.

Craig, over at Royals Authority, has the text from Buck's Cooperstown speech here as well as his personal Buck stories.

Alright, sit down. This is outstanding! I’ve been a lot of places. I’ve done a lot of things that I really liked doing. I hit the homerun. I hit the grand slam homerun. I hit for the cycle. I’ve had a hole-in-one in golf. I’ve done a lot of things I liked doing. I shook hands with President Truman. Yeah. Oh, man, I took — Oh, [shook hands] with the other President and I…hugged his wife, Hilary. So I’ve done a lot of things I liked doing. But I’d rather be right here, right now, representing these people that helped build a bridge across the chasm of prejudice — not just the ones like Charlie Pride and me that later crossed it. Yeah. This is quite an honor for me.

Next, Negro League baseball. All you needed was a bus, and we rode in some of the best buses money could buy, yeah, a couple of sets of uniforms. You could have 20 of the best athletes that ever lived. And that’s who we are representing here today. It was outstanding. And playing in the Negro leagues — what a lot of you don’t know. See, when I played in the Negro leagues — I first came to the Negro leagues — five percent of Major League ball players were college men because the major leaguers wanted them right out of high school, put them in the minor league, bring them on in. But Negro leagues, 40 percent of Negro leagues, leaguers, were college men. The reason that was, we always spring trained in a black college town and that’s who we played in spring training, the black colleges. So when school was out, they came and played baseball. When baseball season was over, they’d go back to teaching, to coaching, or to classes. That was Negro League baseball. And I’m proud to have been a Negro league ball player. Yeah, yeah.

And I tell you what, they always said to me Buck, “I know you hate people for what they did to you or what they did to your folks.” I said, “No, man, I — I never learned to hate.” I hate cancer. Cancer killed my mother. My wife died 10 years ago of cancer. (I’m single, ladies.) A good friend of mine — I hate AIDS. A good friend of mine died of AIDS three months ago. I hate AIDS. But I can’t hate a human being because my God never made anything ugly. Now, you can be ugly if you wanna, boy, but God didn’t make you that way. Uh, uh.

So, I want you to light this valley up this afternoon. Martin [Luther King] said “Agape” is understanding, creative — a redemptive good will toward all men. Agape is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. And when you reach love on this level, you love all men, not because you like ‘em, not because their ways appeal to you, but you love them because God loved them. And I love Jehovah my God with all my heart, with all my soul, and I love every one of you — as I love myself.

Now, I want you to do something for me. I’m fixin’ to get off this stage now. I think I done my six minutes. But I want you to do something for me. I want you to hold hands. Whoever’s next to you, hold a hand. Come on, you Hall of Famers, hold hands. All you people out there, hold hands. Everybody hooked up? Everybody hooked up? Well then I tell you what. See, I know my brothers up here, my brothers over there — I see some black brothers of mine and sisters out there — I know they can sing. Can you white folks sing? I want you to sing after me:

The greatest thing — come on everybody –

The greatest thing in all of my life is loving you.

The greatest thing in all of my life is loving you.

The greatest thing in all of my life is loving you.

The greatest thing in all my life is loving you.

Thank you, folks. Thank you, folks. Thank you, folks. Thank you, folks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now, sit down. Now, sit down. I could talk to you 10 minutes longer, but I got to go to the bathroom.