O’Neil, Miñoso, Hodges, Kaat, Oliva, Fowler get baseball HOF

Buck O’Neil never uttered a single word of bitterness or regret about not being elected to the baseball Hall of Fame. Till the end, he urged those who loved and rooted for him to do the same.

Now, long after a near miss that left many wondering if he’d ever make it, they can rejoice.

O’Neil, a champion of Black ballplayers during a monumental, eight-decade career on and off the field, joined Minnie Miñoso, Gil Hodges and three others in getting chosen for the Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Former Minnesota Twins teammates Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat also were elected along with Bud Fowler by a pair of veterans committees.

“Jubilation,” said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, that O’Neil helped create.

“While we’re all sad that Buck is not here, you just cannot not be happy for all of those who continued to beat that Buck O’Neil drum,” he said.

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.

Passed over in previous Hall elections, the new members reflect a diversity of accomplishments.

This was the first time O’Neil, Miñoso and Fowler had a chance to make the Hall under new rules honoring Negro League contributions. The Major League Baseball color barrier wasn’t broken until 1947 by Jackie Robinson.

Last December, the statistics of some 3,400 players were added to MLB’s record books when the sport said it was “correcting a longtime oversight in the game’s history” and reclassifying the Negro Leagues as a major league.

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 the ultimate ambassador for the sport until his death in 2006 at 94, was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and already is honored with a life-sized statue inside the Hall of Fame.

Along with his statue in Cooperstown, the Hall’s board of directors periodically present the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award to a person “whose extraordinary efforts enhanced baseball’s positive impact on society … and whose character, integrity and dignity” mirror those shown by O’Neil.

Miñoso was a twotime All-Star in the Negro Leagues before becoming the first Black player for the Chicago White Sox in 1951. Born in Havana, “The Cuban Comet” was a seventime All-Star while with the White Sox and Indians.

“Trailblazer among Afro-Latinos and Cubans, five-tool dynamo on the baseball diamond, ‘Mr. White Sox’ … any description of his career now ends with the words ‘Hall of Famer,’” Chicago chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement.

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 pennant-winning “Boys of Summer” to reach the Hall, joining Robinson, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella and Pee Wee Reese. An eight-time All-Star with 370 home runs and a three-time Gold Glover at first base, Hodges enhanced his legacy when he managed the 1969 “Miracle Mets” to the World Series championship, a startling five-game win over heavily favored Baltimore.

Oliva was a three-time AL batting champion with the Twins whose career was cut short by knee problems.

Kaat was 283-237 in 25 seasons and a 16-time Gold Glove winner.

O’Neil and Fowler were selected by the Early Days committee. Hodges, Miñoso, Oliva and Kaat were chosen the by the Golden Days committee.

The 16-member panels met separately in Orlando, Florida. The election announcement was originally scheduled to coincide with the big league winter meetings, which were nixed because of the MLB lockout.

It took 12 votes (75%) for selection: Miñoso drew 14, O’Neil got 13 and Hodges, Oliva, Kaat and Fowler each had 12. Allen had 11.