Cascade Sports Salutes John Buck O’Neil on His Birthday

John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Jr. (November 13, 1911 – October 6, 2006) was an American first baseman and manager in the Negro American League, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs. After playing, he worked as a scout and became the first African American coach in Major League Baseball. In his later years, he became a popular and renowned speaker and interview subject, helping to renew widespread interest in the Negro Leagues, and played a major role in establishing the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 as an executive.[
O’Neil was prominently featured in Ken Burns’s 1994 documentary series Baseball. His life was documented in Joe Posnanski’s 2007 book The Soul of Baseball.