The Baseball Hall of Fame revealed a list of 17 people associated with the Negro League Baseball who will be inducted later this year. Buck O’Neil, however, was not one of them. O’Neil, who is 94, serves as the Chairman of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City and was also a player and manager for the Kansas City Monarchs. Later in his career, O’Neil became the first black coach in the major leagues, when he was hired as an assistant for the Chicago Cubs. Those efforts weren’t enough get votes from 75 percent of the 12 people voting.
Inductees with Missouri ties:
•Willard Brown—15 seasons in the Negro Leagues, five-time All-Star, lifetime .351 batting average, member of Monarchs 1942 Championship team
•Andy Cooper—19 seasons in Negro Leagues, ten with Monarchs, posted 116-57 record, traded to Kansas City from Detroit in 1928 for five players
•Carlos Torriente—17 seasons in Negro Leagues, played for many teams, hit .354 with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1926
•Jose Mendez—managed Kansas City Monarchs from 1920-1926
•Ben Taylor—Played 22 seasons, most before the inception of the Negro Leagues, member of the St. Louis Giants
•J.L. Wilkinson—Principal owner of the Kansas City Monarchs from 1920-1948, died in Kansas City in 1964
