Buck O’Neil, 94; Ambassador for Negro League Baseball

Buck O’Neil, an All-Star first baseman and manager with the Kansas City Monarchs -- one of the storied franchises of black baseball -- who in his later years became a tireless ambassador for the Negro leagues, died Friday at a hospital in Kansas City, Mo. He was 94.

O’Neil had been hospitalized in August and again last month for fatigue. No cause of death was given.

In his 16-year career, he twice led the Negro American League in batting and eventually became the first black coach in major league baseball. But he was best-known for his accomplishments after his career with the Monarchs ended.

For many Americans, the gracious O’Neil became the face of the Negro leagues after the broadcast of Ken Burns’ PBS documentary “Baseball” in 1994. And O’Neil, who had tirelessly promoted the sport he loved, used the increased exposure to continue that effort until his death.

O’Neil helped create the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo. -- he considered it the crowning achievement of his life -- and always made time to talk about his life in baseball and the legacy of many of those who played in an era when baseball was racially segregated.

“I think we are the cause of the changes. Some of the changes that have been made were because of us,” O’Neil said in Burns’ documentary. “We did our duty. We did the groundwork for the Jackie Robinsons, the Willie Mayses, and the guys that are playing now. So why feel sorry for me? We did our part in our generation, and we turned it over to another generation, and it’s still changing -- which is the way it should be.”

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., this summer inducted 17 individuals involved with the Negro leagues era, but O’Neil, despite his high profile, was not among those selected by the special committee. He had failed to get enough votes in several previous elections.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig told The Times in July that O’Neil belonged in the Hall. “I’m a big fan of Buck O’Neil,” he said. “He is a charismatic figure who, throughout his life, has been a wonderful promoter of our great game. He is a true baseball legend.

“He should be in the Hall of Fame. As far as I’m concerned, he is a Hall of Famer.”

As was his nature, O’Neil took the disappointment in stride. “I was hoping that I got there, but the fact that I didn’t means that I shouldn’t be there,” O’Neil told The Times this summer.

John Jordan O’Neil, the grandson of a slave, was born Nov. 13, 1911, in Carrabelle, Fla. His father played baseball for a local team, and O’Neil was the batboy when he wasn’t working in the celery fields. That’s when his love affair with the sport began.

“I saw baseball was a good way to make a living,” he said. “So I decided that’s what I wanted to do. It was better than working in the celery fields.”

O’Neil began playing semiprofessional baseball in 1934 when he joined the Miami Giants. He went on to play with several other barnstorming teams, including the New York Tigers, Shreveport Acme Giants and Zulu Cannibal Giants, before he started his Negro leagues career with the Memphis Red Sox in 1937.

After one season playing for the Red Sox, O’Neil was traded to Kansas City to play first base and spent the rest of his Negro leagues career with the Monarchs.

O’Neil, who won batting titles in 1940 and 1946 around a two-year stint in the Navy during World War II, led the Monarchs to a Negro World Series championship and hit .353 when the Monarchs swept the Homestead Grays. He was named player-manager in 1948 and remained with the team until 1955. During that time, he managed Kansas City to four league titles and coached legendary players Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and Ernie Banks before they eventually got the opportunity to do something he never did: Play in the major leagues. Robinson broke the color barrier when he joined the Dodgers in 1947.

O’Neil also played for the 1946 Satchel Paige All-Stars, who toured the nation against Bob Feller’s All-Stars in a 14-game series.

“We were just that good,” O’Neil said. “What we had with us was a Satchel Paige on the ballclub. That made us a great attraction.”

He was a regular participant in the Negro leagues’ East-West All-Star Classic -- which showcased black baseball’s best players every year in Chicago. He was a player in 1942, 1943 and 1949, and manager for the West team in 1950, 1953, 1954 and 1955.

After his playing career, O’Neil was hired by the Chicago Cubs as a scout in 1956. Six years later, the Cubs made him the first black coach in major league baseball. In 1988, O’Neil left after 33 years working with the Cubs to scout for the Kansas City Royals.

O’Neil played an important role in obtaining pensions for former Negro leagues players and was a primary reason the Negro leagues museum has been such a success. He had proposed its creation for years before its founding in 1990 and collected merchandise, drew attention to the cause and raised funds.

The museum has moved from a single office to a state-of-the-art facility that has sparked a real estate revival around Kansas City’s historic 18th and Vine Street district.

“The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is my pride and joy,” O’Neil said. “That’s the top of the line for my life. We’re telling the story, the history, of not only Negro league baseball, but of the segregation era.”

Known as one of the greatest historians and storytellers of the Negro leagues era, O’Neil saw his celebrity status rise after he was featured in Burns’ documentary.

In 1996, O’Neil published his biography, “I Was Right on Time,” and in the foreword by Burns, the filmmaker wrote: “His life reflects the past and contains many of the bitter experiences that our country reserved for men of his color, but there is no bitterness in him.

“It’s not so much that he put that suffering behind him as that he has brought gold and light out of bitterness and despair, loneliness and suffering. He knows he can go farther with generosity and kindness than with anger and hate.”

For decades, O’Neil traveled the country keeping alive the legacy of the Negro leagues and was one of the most sought-after speakers in sports.

Two of his observations from the PBS documentary:

On Jackie Robinson: “For Jackie to play in the major leagues, that meant that one white boy wasn’t going to play. We had played against these fellas and they knew that we could play. And they knew if we were allowed to play, a lot of them wouldn’t play. See? Jackie was the ideal person for that job because I knew fellas at that time that were better than Jackie, but I don’t think they would have taken the insults and things like that. He was the only one that could have carried that load because he knew that if he had done something wrong, he could set it back 50 more years.”

On Satchel Paige: “Satchel was a comedian. Satchel was a preacher. Satchel was just about some of everything. We had a good baseball team. But when Satchel pitched, we had a great baseball team. It was just that Satchel brought the best out in everybody. The amazing part about it was that he brought the best out in the opposition too.”

The demand for O’Neil reached its peak this year. Bob Kendrick, the Negro leagues museum marketing director, said O’Neil’s schedule was packed.

“Since February, he has not had the schedule that one would ever think that a 94-year old man would have,” Kendrick said. “The wide array of emotion, and the mental and physical drain of not getting voted into the Hall of Fame I’m sure took its toll.”

Before he was hospitalized, O’Neil became the oldest player to appear in a pro baseball game when he was intentionally walked to lead off the Northern League All-Star game in Kansas City, Kan. He had been signed by the Kansas City T-Bones, who then traded him before the bottom half of the inning. O’Neil was walked again, but not without taking a swing that spun him around and nearly put him on the ground.

O’Neil was married 51 years to Ora Lee Owens, who died Nov. 2, 1997. They had no children. He is survived by a brother, Warren O’Neil.

lonnie.white@latimes.com