Buck O'Neil, Major League Scout

In 1955, The Kansas City Monarchs were sold, and if the integration of Major League Baseball in 1947 wasn't the end, the sale of one the league's most prominent and prestigious franchises to new owners certainly seemed like it. Buck O'Neil was the Monarchs' long-time manager, and he was also the team's lead scout. The story goes that Buck discovered and signed Ernie Banks, but in some ways, the opposite was true. Before the 1962 season, he went to the team's owner P.K. Wrigley and recommended Buck for a coaching position. He had been a scout for the team since leaving the Monarchs, helping the team sign players that they otherwise never would have found. As the first African-American Coach in MLB history, Buck was part of the Cubs' "College of Coaches" a hare-brained scheme to rotate managers so that no one manager felt too much stress. Unfortunately, the carousel never stopped when Buck's turn should have come, and it would be until 1975 before another African-American would get the chance to manage a team.

Over a dozen players that O'Neil scouted had big league careers, and here are some of the most notable signings. (Ernie Banks was already in the Cubs organization when Buck O'Neil was hired as a scout, the story that Buck signed Ernie to his first Cubs contract has more art than history to it.) So was Billy Williams, though Buck did visit Billy one weekend during his minor league climb and convinced Williams to keep at it, he nearly left baseball before his debut!

Oscar Gamble was a wiry, shy kid that O'Neil scouted more or less by accident. He found Gamble playing a pick up game of baseball with some other teens while he was trying to find a different field to scout another player entirely. He found out from Gamble where his next official game would be, and returned to scout him properly. Buck said that he only needed to see one at bat- a fly out, no less - to see that he was a special talent. Buck was right - Gamble would go on to a 17 year career and 200 homers.

One of the last major signings that Buck made for the Cubs was a young outfielder by the name of Joe Carter. Carter had a much higher prospect profile compared to Gamble - Carter was the Sporting News' Collegiate Player of the Year in 1981. He was a 4 sport athlete in High School and as mentioned a standout College baseball player. On Buck's advice, the Cubs made Carter their first round pick in 1982. He would only spend 23 games in a Cubs uniform before being sent to Cleveland in a deal for Rick Sutcliffe. Carter would have a 16 year MLB career, including an unforgettable World Series Clinching homer in 1993. The 2 time world champion had over 2,100 career hits and 396 homers.

Lee Smith retired from baseball as MLB's All-Time Leader in Saves. He's been passed by many since, but Smith lays claim to being one of the games' best closers over from the mid 80s to mid 90s. Smith was scouted when he was just 17 from northern Louisiana, where he starred for his high school basketball team. He played on the softball team until his junior year, when the strength of his arm became apparent. He was drafted in the 2nd Round of the 1975 draft by the Cubs, and if not for the hefty $50,000 bonus offered by Buck, he may have opted to go to college on a basketball scholarship instead. Smith was a started for the first four years in the minors, but he found his calling in the bullpen for the Cubs. In 1983, he led the NL in Saves and had a 1.65 ERA striking out 91 batters in just over 100 innings. He made his first of 7 All-Star teams, and would save at least 25 games for the next 12 seasons. This past winter, he was selected by the Veteran's Committee along with Harold Baines to be inducted in the Hall of Fame.

One of the greatest base stealers of All-Time, Lou Brock was the most successful player in the big leagues signed by Buck O'Neil. A member of the 3,000 hit club, Brock was a tremendous outfielder as well. The 2X World Series Champ was a 6X All-Star and an 8X stolen base leader. Brock was a Junior in college when he attended a major league tryout in Chicago that was attended by both the White Sox and Cubs. The Cubs and Buck O'Neil convinced him that the path to the major leagues would be quicker on the Northside, so he signed with the Cubs. After hitting .387 in the Instructional League in 1960, he tore up Spring Training in 1961, hitting an even .400. The Cubs still wanted to season him a bit, so he homered on the very first pitch he saw as a minor leaguer in St. Cloud, MN - he'd win the batting title that year in the Northern League, and would be in Wrigley field in 1962. The pitching starved Cubs made a critical blunder in 1964, trading Brock to the Cardinals for Ernie Broglio, who had a recent 20 win campaign. It turned out that his best innings were behind him, and Brock's best were to come. The Cardinals were World Series champs in 1964, in which Lou hit .300 with a homer and 5 RBI. They'd win it all again in 1967, thanks in no small part to Brock's .414 average, 7 steals, and home run over 7 hard fought games.

Buck would be hired later in the 80s as a scout for the Kansas City Royals, and was even named the 1998 Midwest Scout of the Year, though the big name players were less frequent. His contributions to baseball went far beyond the boxscore as a player with the Monarchs, or as their Manager. He is of course best known as an unofficial ambassador of the Negro Leagues, featured in Ken Burns' Baseball documentary. The stories that Buck had been telling for decades finally reached a wider national audience and the country finally started to learn and remember the history that had been written all around them for the last century.

Off The Shelf: I Was Right On Time, by Buck O'Neil

Shortly after the debut of the seminal documentary Baseball by Ken Burns, Buck O'Neil found himself getting more and more requests to speak and travel and share the stories of his life and the Negro Leagues. With the assistance of Steve Wulf and David Conrads, O'Neil put many of those anecdotes in print as a memoir. I Was Right On Time is a straightforward re-telling of O'Neil's life from birth through his playing, coaching, and scouting days. The book contains many of the stories shared in the documentary, though he is about to fill in the stories with greater detail.  

The Negro Leagues had been long overdue for discussion and recognition by the rest of the sporting world for decades. At the time this book was published there was finally a more keen interest in the men and women that shaped the game. O'Neil's book is greatly overshadowed by his magnetic presence- it seems like a more sterile and silted version of the enthusiastic and passionate man many of us got to know through his interviews.

He names his all-time team from the Negro Leagues in the book, starting with the prodigiously powerful catcher Josh Gibson. Gibson's story of incredible talent and eventual tragedy is worthy of many deeper re-tellings.

Buck Leonard was compared to Lou Gehrig offensively, and Hal Chase defensively. Buck O describes Buck L as the most studious ballplayer he ever knew, and would often be seen in the hotel lobbies working on crosswords or buried in a book before games or travel. As Gibson's teammate, they led a formidable offensive attack in Pittsburgh and captured 9 consecutive pennants. 

At second base, Buck selected the diminutive Newt Allen, a 22 year veteran in Kansas City and Saint Louis. Newt was known for his strong throwing arm and impressive speed.

At Short, Buck chose Willie Wells. He compares Wells to Ozzie Smith in the field, with excellent range and powerful throws from the hole. Wells was also a great hitter - statistical records of course for the league are still being disputed and collected, but he's credited with a .320 lifetime average over 22 seasons in the Negro Leagues. He hit .420 in 1930 for the Saint Louis Stars, and was known to aggressively take the extra base, stretching singles into doubles and doubles into triples.

At the Hot Corner, Buck named the great Ray Dandridge, who was never given a chance in the majors but did see some time in the Giants' farm system towards the end of his playing days. The photo above is from his time in Minneapolis with the Millers.

Buck's anecdote about Ray's bowlegs - "On the field, they said a train would have a better chance going through Ray's legs than a baseball, and I do believe they were right."

Turkey Stearnes is Buck's selection in Left Field. He was six time HR leader, and was known to talk to his bats. He would carry the bats around in a special case, not unlike Ichiro today.

While Buck talks at length about Cool Papa Bell (There's even a great story about the legend that Cool Papa was "so fast, he could turn off the lights and jump into bed before the room got dark"), the fact is that Oscar Charleston was going to be the Centerfielder on Buck's team. The truth is we'll never know how great he was, but names like Cobb, Ruth, Mays, etc. are a good start. Charleston was a complete player in every sense of the word. He was said to be able to "cover more ground than grass," hit for power and average, and in his later years was a respected mentor to young players. As Buck put it "This man not only encompassed the Negro Leagues, he symbolized the Negro Leagues, with his heart and his spirit and his talent." 

From a Turkey in Left to a Mule in Right. Mule Suttles rivaled Josh Gibson in terms of raw power. He swung a 50 ounce bat! Suttles was a coal miner like Honus Wagner, and his roughness was on display with every moon shot he blasted into the stands. His numbers are Ruthian, with astronomical slugging and on base figures. 

Buck's best friend during their playing days was also one of the greatest pitchers of all time. There are many great stories about Satchel in the book, including the story about why he called Buck "Nancy" for most of his life. Paige of course was finally given the opportunity to pitch in the majors when he well past his pitching prime, but his ability and knowledge were still impressive enough to help lead Cleveland to their most recent World Series victory.

This book was a quick read, and a fun read. I'd also recommend Joe Posnanski's travelogue with Buck O'Neil, The Soul of Baseball. There are some great stories in I Was Right On Time, it's definitely worth your time.

Alternatives to Staring Out the Window Until Spring

Rogers Hornsby famously stated "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." That's one option. I prefer some just barely more active. I was given a nice gift card to Amazon, so I blew it all on baseball books!

One of my favorite books on baseball is the travel diary of Joe Posnanski with Buck O'Neil "The Soul Of Baseball - A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America" I figured I should go to the source.  I just started reading this one yesterday, but I've barely put it down.

I've heard great things about this book, and Veeck is one of the more interesting personalities in baseball history.

I added this one to the list because of all the conversation about the Hall this time of year. Someone on twitter mentioned this one as a must read.

Chief Bender was born in Minnesota, and with the exception of a chapter in "Glory of Our Times" I haven't seen much written about him.

I've heard the name Moe Berg many times and have heard several anecdotes about his life, but I haven't read anything in depth - I'm looking forward to this one!

This one has been recommended to me many times, I finally got around to adding it to my collection.

I've read biographies on Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, and Buck O'Neil, I picked up this book to learn about a few more people from the Negro Leagues.


What are some of your favorite books on baseball?