"I don't know exaclty what's inside Buck O'Neil, but I know we need more of it." - Bob Costas.
If baseball has a King Arthur, it's Buck O'Neil.
He was a man who never saw justice: Because of the color of his skin he never played in the Major Leagues. He should have been baseball's first black manager, but never got the nod. He should have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Again,no call.
He's a man who should have grown bitter, downright angry, and even resentful.
Instead, he passed along an infectious love for the game, smiled for the cameras, warmed peoples hearts, stirred compassion in the minds of fans and made Real Life Big League Ballplayers - who are often treated as, and think of themselves as, minigods - to look up to him.
He brought out idealism in hardened men, made young women feel like they'd met a knight, and signed balls any kid handed him.
If you get the chance, you must read his book, "I Was Right On Time." It will make you smile, laugh, cry.
It's told in an easygoing manner, just like his speaking style.
And it's that style that got you to fall in love with him when he told all those memorable stories in Ken Burns' "Baseball."
Except the stories are even better in the book.
O'Neil died in 2006, nine years after writing the book, which goes into detail about his life in Florida, his travels through the Negro Leagues, and the rest of his life.
But O'Neil's biggest success is that he gets us to stop feeling pity for him. He tells us, time and again, about how wonderful his life was. That he didn't need to make it to The bigs or Cooperstown to feel vindicated. And that's how we should feel about ourselves.
Like King Arthur, O'Neil gets us to believe in honor and justice and that it's our job to make this world a better place for our children.
By the end of the book we come to realize Cooperstown wasn't his Camelot, life was was his Camelot.
O'Neil's book can be found on Amazon.com, Barnes And Nobel's and other Web sites.
You can also find more Buck resources here.
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