Buck And Mudcat, American Treasures

Written by: Mark Healey on 7th February 2011

Buck And Mudcat, American Treasures | read this item

What better way to continue Baseball Digest’s celebration of Black History Month than by talking about two of the greatest people to have ever graced the game of baseball; Jim “Mudcat” Grant and Buck O’Neill.

I had the great fortune to sit down with both of these incredible me over the last few years. Each spun tales of baseball at its best – and worst – and shared their experiences with me. Now I’d like to share them with the readers of Baseball Digest.

Listen to interviews with both Buck O’ Neil and Jim “Mudcat” Grant here.

My interview with O’Neil was at Coney Island’s KeySpan Park at the Brooklyn Baseball Gallery (located at the corner of the stadium).

When I arrived a few hours early to find out what time he would be made available to the media, I found him — just he and a companion — in the impressive baseball museum, just walking around and appraising the place as if there were Rembrandts on the walls instead of pictures of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese.

I didn’t want to intrude, so I waited patiently for him to finish, and when he finally rested on one of the chairs set up for his appearance, I walked over and asked his representative if he was available for questions.

“Well that depends,” said the 94-year old O’Neill, his voice a chuckle. “Who am I talking to?”

I introduced myself, shook his hand, and spent the next 20 minutes marveling at his grace, strength and eloquence.

***

For those that only know him as the elderly African-American gentleman whose magical voice made Ken Burns’ PBS documentary Baseball a must-watch for any baseball fan, John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil spent 16 years as a first baseman and manager with the Kansas City Monarchs, the flagship franchise of the Negro Leagues. He was a three-time All-Star, won a batting title, and was by all accounts, a very good defensive player. As a manager, he led the Monarchs to four Negro American League titles and two Negro League World Series championships.

After spending several years as a scout for the Chicago Cubs, during which he had a hand in discovering Hall-Of-Famers Ernie Banks and Lou Brock, he then became the first African-American coach in Major League Baseball history. He also helped start the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo.

Somehow, that wasn’t enough to get him enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame before his death.

That brilliant decision was rendered by a special committee, made up of 12 individuals who had never seen O’Neil play, and who have never (at least the ones that voted against O’Neil’s induction) to explain their foolishness.

To his credit, neither the day it was announced, nor on the day I interviewed him, or until his dying days, O’Neil never complained.

“Hey, I got a job to do,” he smiled. “I got to represent everyone who’s in there, and make sure everybody knows about what we all did in this game.”

He’ll continued that “job” on the day he spoke at the Hall of Fame for the 17 individuals that were inducted into Cooperstown that day.

***

O’Neil, as he has probably done most of his life, would rather talk about others than himself, and our conversation turned to some of the players that O’Neill played with, managed and signed to major league clubs.

I asked him one of my favorite questions, which involves the selection of one specific player to start a team.

“Josh,” O’Neil answered immediately, referring to the immortal Josh Gibson, perhaps the greatest ballplayer never to play MLB. “Josh was not only a great hitter, but he was a catcher you know, and he would just take over a pitching staff. Yeah, I’d pick Josh.”

Best defensive player?

“Willie Wells,” O’Neill replied. “You know, he was a shortstop. Man, could he go get it and throw it. He was something else.”

He went on, and I never bothered to stop him. I felt like a kid listening to his grandfather, and since I lost both my grandparents when I was very young, I just sat back and listened.

“I signed Ernie Banks to a contract with the Cubs, and I signed Lou Brock. I also signed Lee Smith and Joe Carter, both of whom I believe will one day go into the Hall of Fame.”

“Leo Durocher was a smart man. You see, he wanted to win. He didn’t care who it was, or where they were from, all long as they could play that game, uh huh.”

***

O’Neill is one of those people, like Tommy Lasorda, Joe Torre and Carl Erskine to name a few, that have that special ability to make people you’ve never met before come alive with their storytelling.

At the same time, I found myself changing from interviewer to listener and as I thanked him for his time and allowed the rest of the growing crowd of media and fans that had clustered slowly around us as we talked.

I walked away a better man for having met him and shared a few months with him.

Jim “Mudcat” Grant

Unlike Buck O’Neil, Jim Grant did get the chance to play in the major leagues, and while he did not forge a Hall Of Fame career while doing so, he certainly made an impact.

Listen to interviews with both Buck O’ Neil and Jim “Mudcat” Grant here.

He played for seven different teams during his 14-year career, winning 145 games, saving 53 others, and a 3.65 career ERA in 571 games. In 1965, he went 21-7 with a 3.30 ERA for the pennant-winning Minnesota Twins, and took the AL Pitcher of The Year award from the Sporting News.

He finished sixth in voting for the 1965 AL MVP for leading the league in wins, WL% (.750), and shutouts (6). His home run in the sixth game of the 1965 World Series was only the second by an American League pitcher during a World Series game.

Grant was profiled in the book, Cool of the Evening; The 1965 Minnesota Twins.

I met him at a book signing for his project, “The Black Aces“, a book, co-written by Pat O’Brien and Tom Sabellico.

As a 22-year old rookie on the 1958 Cleveland Indians, 11 years after Jackie Robinson had broke the barrier for African-American baseball players, Grant found himself faced with some racial tension, as told in “Crossing The Line”

He shared many of his thoughts with me in our interview, and as Buck O’Neil would tell me a few weeks later, “Mudcat knows what he’s talkin’ about.”

Share on Tumblr

Topics: African American Gentleman, American Baseball, American Treasures, Baseball Digest, Baseball Gallery, Baseball Museum, Black History Month, Buck O Neil, Buck O Neill, Celebration Of Black History, Celebration Of Black History Month, Chicago Cubs, First Baseman, Great Fortune, Jim 'Mudcat' Grant, John Jordan, Jordan Buck, Kansas City Monarchs, Ken Burns, Keyspan Park, Negro American League, Pee Wee Reese, Pictures Of Jackie Robinson, World Series Championships

Tweets that mention Buck And Mudcat, American Treasures | Baseball Digest -- Topsy.com says:

February 7, 2011 at 10:52 am

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Healey, Mark Healey. Mark Healey said: Buck And Mudcat, American Treasures http://t.co/q6Fhxo6 #baseball #blackhistorymonth #negroleagues #indians #twins [...]
Jeff Chancey says:

February 7, 2011 at 2:56 pm

I’ve met Buck in KC. He was surely a one of a kind gentleman. From my blog… http://www.ballparkthinking.blogspot.com

Baseball is humbling. I remember being humbled, by none other than Buck O’Neil himself. As he did until his last year or so alive, buck would sit a few rows directly behind home plate at Kauffman Stadium. Always a beacon of smiles and happiness, he drew fans of all ages to him. A stadium usher would watch the isle and only let people without tickets go down to speak to him or to get an autograph, in between innings. It was my turn, 3rd out was made and she nodded her head. It was ok for me to follow the steps down with my KC Monarchs hat in hand like I was taking my written list to see Santa Clause. I lowered myself beside him and unable to speak or perhaps just assumed no speech was necessary, I handed my hat to him. Buck looked up at me with a stern voice and said “Now you ASK me for that autograph young man”. Stern at the beginning but in a way that only Buck can do, we was smiling ear to ear by the time the sentence finished.
Jeff Chancey says:

February 7, 2011 at 2:57 pm

Lesson learned. I said “may I please have your autograph sir?” And still smiling he said “SURE CAN!” He signed his name and that hat is still a treasure of mine along with that memory. Both the autographed hat and the humbling lesson learned is a manner not many people are able to teach any more. This was a decent man, full of live and full of love for baseball and people most of all. But I imagine baseball fans held a special place in his heart like he has in mine.
Me and The Mets Police « Gotham Nation says:

November 28, 2011 at 2:11 pm

[...] course, being the Online Editor for Baseball Digest, as well as the Co-Publisher of Gotham Baseball, I will have to go to work, and cover the team. But [...]