O’Neil, Buck (1911-2006), remains among the most celebrated and important figures in the history of baseball. O’Neil left a lasting impact on the sport as a skilled player, a knowledgeable manager, a shrewd judge of talent, a passionate promoter, and a gifted storyteller. 
John Jordan O’Neil, Jr., was born Nov. 13, 1911, in Carrabelle, Florida, on the Gulf Coast. His father played baseball and introduced him to the game. Around 1920, the family moved to Sarasota, near the spring training facilities of several Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. As a youth, O’Neil watched such players as Babe Ruth prepare for the season.
As a teenager, O’Neil worked in the fields harvesting celery. He was prohibited from attending the segregated (racially separated) high school in Sarasota. He received high school and college instruction from Edward Waters College (now Edward Waters University), a historically Black college in Jacksonville.
In 1934, O’Neil began playing for small Negro league teams. Negro leagues were professional baseball leagues formed for Black players, who were barred from playing alongside white players because of racial segregation. O’Neil got the nickname “Buck” after being mistaken for a Negro league team owner named Buck O’Neal.
O’Neil joined the Kansas City Monarchs in 1938. His sure fielding at first base and high batting average helped the Monarchs to win four consecutive Negro American League pennants from 1939 to 1942. In 1943, O’Neil was drafted into the United States Navy to serve in World War II (1939-1945).
O’Neil returned to the Monarchs after the war and was named player-manager in 1948. A player-manager manages a baseball team while also playing for the team. Jackie Robinson had broken MLB’s color barrier the year before, and MLB clubs were signing star players away from Negro leagues teams. The loss of talent caused many Black baseball fans to lose interest in the Negro leagues. To keep the Monarchs in business, O’Neil sought out talented young Black players, signed them, and sold their contracts to MLB teams. He signed a young Ernie Banks on the recommendation of fellow Negro leagues legend Cool Papa Bell. In the mid-1950’s, O’Neil was forced to insert himself into the picked-over Monarchs lineup, even though he was well past his prime as a player.
In 1955, O’Neil was hired as a scout by the MLB Chicago Cubs. He specialized in signing players from the remaining Negro leagues teams and Black players from the South. He scouted future National Baseball Hall of Famers Lou Brock, Lee Smith, and Billy Williams.
In 1962, the Cubs named O’Neil a coach, making him the first Black coach in MLB history. At the time, the Cubs were utilizing a “college of coaches” approach, in which a group of men shared coaching duties throughout the season. Despite this arrangement, O’Neil never served as the team’s manager or an on-field base coach. O’Neil later claimed that veteran coach Charlie Grimm prevented him from coaching in such a public capacity because O’Neil was Black. O’Neil returned to scouting in 1964. In 1988, he became a scout for the Kansas City Royals.
Later in life, O’Neil campaigned to raise public awareness of the Negro leagues. In 1990, he helped establish the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. He served as its chairman from 1997 until his death. O’Neil was featured prominently in the documentary miniseries “Baseball” (1994) by the American filmmaker Ken Burns. The work served to introduce younger generations of baseball fans to the players of the Negro leagues. O’Neil successfully lobbied to get Negro leagues players elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Buck O’Neil died on Oct. 6, 2006. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2021.
