Former Kansas City Monarch Buck O’Neil took the stage and the spotlight as he helped to induct 17 former Negro League Baseball players into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, Sunday.
Unfortunately and surprisingly, O’Neil wasn’t included in the list of inductees. But that didn’t stop him from warming the crowd with humor that can only be attributed to his southern roots. During his seven-minute speech, O’Neil managed to alert the women in attendance that he was single and announce to the crowd – maybe partly half-jokingly – that he had to use the restroom.
O’Neil never showed the disappointment of being denied his place with the group; instead, stressing the happiness he felt just to have played in such a great organization that the Negro League was.
Major League Baseball put together the induction as part of a six-year project in which they’re trying to document the Negro League history. 94 candidates were taken into consideration, but only 17 qualified under the MLB’s criteria.