teach us all how to be men

I remember when I met Buck O'Neil as a high school student at Rockhurst. In our personal exchange, as well as in his talk to the student body, I was so impressed by what a gentleman he was, in the truest sense of the word. He was graceful and elegant, yet very masculine. He was gentle, yet very strong. He would hold the door open for a woman because that's the right thing to do, not because he was trying to make a point or conform to some social norm. He would say please and thank you because he was pleased and wanted to thank.

He was a man who witnessed -- indeed, who made -- so much history; in spite of this, you felt like you could sit down, have a couple of beers, and shoot the shit about anything from fishing to the current state of race-relations. He had done so much for baseball and and so much for blacks, but what impressed me most about him was not his accomplishments -- not the fact that he was the first black major league coach or that he was so successful with the Monarchs or that he was so damn good at hitting that baseball or that he signed Lou Brock and Ernie Banks -- indeed, not his accomplishments. Who he was, not what he did, was most impressive.

I remember most that I wanted to be like Buck.

Reggie Jackson said it all: "What a fabulous human being. He was a blessing for all of us. I believe that people like Buck and Rachel Robinson and Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa are angels that walk on earth to give us all a greater understanding of what it means to be human. I'm not sad for him. He had a long, full life and I hope I'm as lucky, but I'm sad for us."

When, for reasons passing understanding, Buck was denied entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year, his modesty shown through brighter than ever. "Shed no tears for Buck...Just keep loving old Buck."

Say a prayer for old Buck today, my friends; it's hard to say when anyone in baseball, or anyone else for that matter, will enter into public life again and teach us all how to be men. Kansas City and the world lost a giant last night.