Minoso and O'Neil: A Plea For Justice

I suppose it is no coincidence that both stories appeared on Friday:

Negro Leagues great Buck O'Neil takes turn for the worse

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Negro leagues great Buck O'Neil took a turn for the worse late Thursday but was resting comfortably in a Kansas City hospital Friday, friends said.

The 94-year-old O'Neil was admitted to the hospital Sept. 17 with extreme fatigue. O'Neil, one of the driving forces in the creation of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, has lost his voice and can only whisper...

...A former Negro leagues batting champion and player-manager with the Kansas City Monarchs, O'Neil holds many distinctions in his long career. In February, he fell one vote short of induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hodges, Santo head Veterans Committee ballot

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) -- Gil Hodges, Ron Santo, Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat are among the 27 players on next year's Veterans Committee ballot for the Hall of Fame announced Thursday...

...No one received the required 75 percent in the first two votes by the new Veterans Committee, in 2003 and 2005. In the last vote, Hodges and Santo received 65 percent, falling eight votes shy.

Holdovers also include Dick Allen, Bobby Bonds, Ken Boyer, Rocky Colavito, Wes Ferrell, Curt Flood, Joe Gordon, Mickey Lolich, Sparky Lyle, Roger Maris, Marty Marion, Carl Mays, Minnie Minoso, Thurman Munson, Don Newcombe, Vada Pinson, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre and Maury Wills...

Minoso and Buck O'Neil, by every imaginable standard, deserve election.  O'Neil for his contributions as a Negro League player and the 'tweener,' Minoso, for all of his contributions.

No Minoso

Minnie wasn't good enough. No, I think his credentials are well established. He was the best left fielder in both leagues during the 1950's after Stan Musial and Ted Williams, and the 9th or 10th best of all time.

He was not a true Negro Leaguer: Maybe.  There is no question that his split tenure between the Negro Leagues and MLB hurts his case.  As a 'tweener' he does not have the career statistics in either league.  More important there are no decent records of his two significant seasons with the New York Cubans.  Hopefully, one day, someone will do the research and produce those stats.

Minoso, a Cuban, had no ethnic or racial base. Perhaps some truth here. While Chicago blacks fully embraced Minnie, as a Cuban, he never received the depth of support nationally as did Jackie Robinson.  It took Roberto Clemente to make North Americans understand what it was like to be Black and Hispanic and play major league baseball. (See Dave Maraniss' new book, Clemente : The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero ).

Minoso also had no national base. Minoso was hurt by the poor relations between the U.S. and his native Cuba.  There was no way of building support in his homeland.  As Fidel Castro said, "While Minnie Minoso is not a friend of the revolution, he will always be welcome in Cuba. He will always be a hero to the Cuban people."  Such sentiments never reached the United States.

One more thing, as long as we're pleading for justice from the Hall of Fame: Buck O'Neil should be elected now by any means necessary.  Change the rules; declare an emergency; whatever. Do it now, before it's too late.

Comments

[jim rowen]

Agreed. Shame on the veterans' committee and the writers and anyone else associated with this long-running farce if O'Neil is allowed to die without his induction.

If O'Neil remains frozen out of the Hall, Minoso won't make it in until 2050.

[Youngest, But Tallest, Brother]

This Santo fan also agrees. And, I suppose, to "by any means necessary" you could add "with all deliberate speed" (not an entirely inapt anology).