As in presidential politics, Hall of Fame voting results often strike outside observers as inexplicable (Jim Kaat, but not Danny Murtaugh?), but there was nothing controversial about the long-overdue inclusion of John Jordan O'Neil Jr., who died at 94 just as baseball's postseason was getting underway in 2006. That summer, 17 former Negro League players were posthumously ushered into Cooperstown -- O'Neil lobbied on their behalf -- but the former Kansas City Monarch first baseman who'd done so much to keep the memory of the black leagues alive narrowly came up short in the voting.
O'Neil was the opposite of bitter. "I've done a lot of things I liked doing," he said at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. "But I'd rather be right here, right now, representing these people that helped build a bridge across the chasm of prejudice."
That kind of grace was to be expected when it came to this man, whose 1996 autobiography was titled "I Was Right on Time." In 2006, George W. Bush posthumously honored O'Neil with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. "Buck O'Neil lived long enough to see baseball and America change for the better," Bush said that day. "He's one of the people we can thank for that. Buck O'Neil was a legend and a beautiful human being."
"I'm near tears," documentary filmmaker Ken Burns tweeted yesterday. "Buck O'Neil is one of the greatest people I have met on this planet. I'm just so happy and pleased and know that somewhere Buck is already in an even bigger Hall of Fame."
Carl M. Cannon is the Washington bureau chief for RealClearPolitics. Reach him on Twitter @CarlCannon.
