[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 23004]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      JOHN ``BUCK'' O'NEIL EULOGY

 Mr. TALENT. Mr. President, today I wish to pay my respects and 
to say goodbye to a man who was bigger than life itself. John Jordan 
``Buck'' O'Neil passed away on Friday, October 6, in Kansas City at the 
age of 94. Buck was a gifted baseball player, a veteran of the U.S. 
Navy, a devoted community leader, a role model for young and old and a 
good friend he was and will always be an American Hero.
  I count myself as truly fortunate to have known Buck and will always 
cherish the opportunities I had to visit with him. When I think of 
Buck, I think of a great and loving man with a heart as big as Kansas 
City who believed that love and education could heal all wounds. I 
think of his near mythical baseball career, a career that spanned seven 
decades, making him a foremost authority of the game and one of its 
greatest ambassadors. I think of his contributions to his community as 
a role model and to society as a leader in the civil rights movement. 
Buck's contributions to the game of baseball and society will be 
everlasting.
  I'd like to take a few minutes to tell you a little bit about Buck's 
life.
  Buck O'Neil, the player, was a first baseman and manager for the 
Kansas City Monarchs from 1937 through 1955. His achievements include 
hitting .353 and leading his team to the 1942 Negro World Series Title. 
His career batting average of .288, included four .300-plus seasons 
winning batting titles in 1940 and 1946, hitting .345 and.353 
respectively. Buck played in the 1942, 1943 and 1949 East-West All-Star 
Classics and barnstormed with the Satchel Paige All-Stars during the 
1930s and 1940s.
  Buck O'Neil, the manager, led the Monarchs from 1948 through 1955. 
His achievements as a manager include sending more Negro League players 
to the Major Leagues than any other manager in baseball history, 
including Ernie Banks, Elston Howard, Connie Johnson, Sweet Lou 
Johnson, and Satchel Paige. He led the Monarchs to league titles in 
1948, 1950, 1951 and 1953 and he managed the West squad in the East-
West All-Star game in 1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955--the West won all four 
contests.
  In 1956, Buck was hired by the Chicago Cubs as a scout paving the way 
for him to make history 6 years later when he became the first African 
American to coach in the Major Leagues. As a scout he discovered such 
superstars as Lou Brock and Joe Carter. In 1988, after more than 30 
years with the Cubs, he returned home to Kansas City to scout for the 
Kansas City Royals.
  The work Buck did after his retirement from the game are arguably 
more significant to the history of baseball than his exploits on the 
field as a player, scout and manager. Buck's true passion over the past 
16 years was to share with the world the contributions that Negro 
Leagues players made to our National Pastime and more importantly to 
society through his work as chairman of America's National Negro 
Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.
  Buck's tireless work led the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, 
NY, to hold a special election this spring to induct Negro Leagues and 
pre-Negro Leagues candidates into the Hall. In July, 17 legendary 
players, managers and owners were inducted into the Hall. This 
induction was bittersweet for many of us as its most visible legend, 
Buck O'Neil, did not receive the necessary votes. Although many of us 
viewed this as an outrageous oversight, Buck graciously viewed this as 
one of the greatest days in Negro Leagues history. That was Buck in his 
truest form. He was always about doing the right thing. No matter what 
doors had been closed to him; he always picked himself up and did what 
was right, never what was easiest or most beneficial to himself. What 
was most important to Buck was his true love for the Negro Leagues, the 
Negro Leagues players and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum--he poured 
all of his life and energy into seeing that their stories were told and 
never forgotten.
  Buck reminded us that these Leagues and their players are significant 
on so many levels: they represent a triumph of the human spirit, 
tremendous sportsmanship, high quality of play, were of vital 
importance to the African American community, and they led directly to 
the integration of the Major Leagues, which was the first in a series 
of major civil rights landmarks that eventually led to the progress we 
have achieved today. Buck was significant in so many ways and on so 
many different levels in his own right--he played an important part in 
shaping the America we live in today.
  Buck's remarkable life reminds me of a favorite poem, Game Called, by 
Grantland Rice. I'd like to read it into the Record:

     Game Called. Across the field of play
     the dusk has come, the hour is late.
     The fight is done and lost or won,
     the player files out through the gate.
     The tumult dies, the cheer is hushed,
     the stands are bare, the park is still
     But through the night there shines the light,
     home beyond the silent hill

     Game Called. Where in the golden light
     the bugle rolled the reveille.
     The shadows creep where night falls deep,
     and taps has called the end of play.
     The game is done, the score is in,
     the final cheer and jeer have passed.
     But in the night, beyond the fight,
     the player finds his rest at last.

     Game Called. Upon the field of life
     the darkness gathers far and wide,
     the dream is done, the score is spun
     that stands forever in the guide.
     Nor victory, nor yet defeat
     is chalked against the players name.
     But down the roll, the final scroll,
     shows only how he played the game.

  There is little question that Buck played the game with all his heart 
and lived his life to the fullest. Buck, you will be missed but not 
forgotten. Our Nation is better by virtue of your play on the field and 
service off the field. The principle by which you lived your life will 
carry on through all who knew you. The freedom for which you fought 
endures. May God bless you with a splendid room within His house. He 
has certainly blessed me with the privilege of having known 
you.

                          ____________________