O’neil heads veterans picks for Hall of Fame
Buck O’neil, a champion of Black ballplayers during a monumental eight-decade career on and off the field, joined Gil Hodges, Minnie Minoso and three others in being elected to the Nationa Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Former Minnesota Twins teammates Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat also were chosen along with Bud Fowler by a pair of veterans committees.
Oliva and Kaat, both 83 years old, are the only living new members. Longtime slugger Dick Allen, who died last December, fell one vote shy of election.
The six newcomers will be enshrined in Cooperstown, New York, on July 24, 2022, along with any new members elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Firsttime candidates David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez join Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling on the ballot, with voting results on Jan. 25.
This was the first time O’neil, Minoso and Fowler had a chance to make the Hall under new rules honoring Negro League contributions. Last December, the statistics of some 3,400 players were added to Major League Baseball’s record books when MLB said it was “correcting a longtime oversight in the game’s history” and reclassifying the Negro Leagues as a major league.
“Jubilation,” said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, that O’neil helped create, after the voting results were announced.
O’neil was a two-time All-star first baseman in the Negro Leagues and the first Black coach in the National or American leagues. He became a remarkable ambassador for the sport until his death in 2006 at 94 and
already is honored with a lifesized statue inside the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
Minoso was a two-time Allstar in the Negro Leagues before becoming the first Black player for the Chicago White Sox in 1951. Born in Havana, “The Cuban Comet” was seven-time All-star while with the White Sox and Indians.
Fowler, born in 1858, is often regarded as the first Black professional baseball player. The pitcher and second baseman helped create the popular Page Fence Giants barnstorming team.
Hodges became the latest Brooklyn Dodgers star from “The Boys of Summer” to reach the Hall, joining Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella and Pee Wee Reese.