Posnanski: Passing the Buck, 10 years later
From SABR member Joe Posnanski at NBC Sports on February 28, 2016:
Ten years ago today, I was sitting in the room when Buck O’Neil found out that the Special Negro Leagues Committee had not voted him into the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was one of the most emotional gut punches of my life. Buck was 94 years old then and although he did not know it or show it, he was already dying of the bone marrow cancer that would take his life seven or so months later.
Buck had been told again and again, by so many people in and around the game, that he was a sure Hall of Fame inductee. He had his bags packed for Florida and what seemed to be the inevitable Hall of Fame press conference. The moment he was told that the Committee had chosen 17 people but he was not among them will remain fresh in my mind for the rest of my life.
Yes, I was angry then, bitter. I admit that. I spent a lot of time in those days trying to make sense of a committee’s decision to not vote Buck into the Hall of Fame. To recap, briefly, the Hall of Fame had received a grant from Major League Baseball to study the Negro Leagues. And so, the Hall created a Special Negro Leagues Committee with historians and researchers.
There were no former Negro Leaguers on the list.
Read the full article here: http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/passing-the-buck/
Originally published: March 2, 2016. Last Updated: March 2, 2016.