COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (WTXL) — One of the great figures of professional baseball in the United States who had roots in Franklin County, Florida was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Sunday.
John Jordan O’Neil, who famously went by Buck O’Neil, was one of seven individuals enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Welcome to baseball immortality, Buck O'Neil.
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) July 24, 2022
📷 Milo Stewart Jr. pic.twitter.com/WnXQpi6APv
O’Neil is known for his impact on baseball during an era when African American men did not have ample opportunity to play in Major League Baseball because of segregation.
O’Neil, who became the first Black coach in MLB in 1962, died in 2006.
Dr. Angela Terry, the niece of O’Neil, accepted O’Neil's enshrinement on his behalf.
According to his hall of fame plaque, O’Neil is recognized for his contributions to the sport of baseball in the Negro Leagues, which were professional baseball leagues with a majority of Black players.
Born in Carrabelle in 1911, O’Neil played professionally in a Negro league for the Kansas City Monarchs from the 1930s into the 1940s as an infielder at first base.
As a player, O’Neil won a Negro World Series championship in 1942.
Once his playing career ended, O’Neil coached the Monarchs, was a scout for MLB’s Chicago Cubs and was an orator and supporter of Negro Leagues history.
As a scout, he brought attention to Black players and helped those players transition to MLB.
He was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in December.
O’Neil was enshrined Sunday with David Ortiz, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, Gil Hodges, Minnie Minoso and Bud Fowler as part of the Class of 2022.
The Associated Press notes the honor for O’Neil comes nearly 16 years after his death, though the Hall of Fame dedicated a statue to him in 2008 and established the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award.
O'Neil was the first chairman of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.
Less than three months before his death in 2006 at the age of 94, he traveled to Cooperstown to speak at the induction of 17 Negro Leagues stars.
“I’ve done a lot of things I really liked doing,” O’Neil said in his speech. “But I’d rather be right here, right now, representing the people who helped build a bridge across the chasm of prejudice.”
