If you’re here, you’ve probably already read Joe Posnanski’s The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America
JoePo followed Buck O’Neil around the country for a year as O’Neil stumped for the Negro Leagues Museum and more generally worked to preserve the memory of the Negro Leagues as real baseball, rather than the minstrel show of the Hollywood depictions of those Leagues. Along the way, the two men ran into a handful of other former Negro Leaguers and gave us a window into their memories, some told by the players themselves with others retold through Joe’s voice. Some are hilarious, some touching, some downright sad.
O’Neil’s personality – his soul, really – dominates the book, which at times seems to border on magical realism with the incredible effect that O’Neil has on other people, most of whom are complete strangers, and his perceptions of others even based on a look or a few sentences. At the book’s close, my overwhelming thought was, “Wow, I wish I had met him.”
It’s hard to compare it to Lords of the Realm, which I’ve always called my top baseball book, but I’d say I enjoyed The Soul of Baseball more – it’s a serious book but has substantial entertainment value, particularly from the stories about other characters like Satchel Paige, but also from the glimpses into the (then) current lives of Willie Mays, Monte Irvin, and the questionable Johnny Washington.
Next up: Lonesome Dove
I absolutely loved this book and devoured it quickly. I remember when I first watched Ken Burns’ Baseball when I was 12 or 13 … Buck O’Neil appeared at various points throughout it, and I couldn’t stop thinking how sweet it would be if that guy was my grandpa.
I was probably biased when I went into it due to my love of JoePo’s blog, but I think it was an objectively very well-written book and he could not have picked a more engaging subject
RIP Buck
A great book about an even greater guy. Keith, what would you expect from Romero this year as he has been named the Jays 4th starter?
I loved Soul of Baseball especially the part about Mays carrying the expectations of fans on his shoulders.
Joe is a great writer and it’s a great book. Not much more to it than that, really.
I totally agree. This was a fantastic book, one of my personal favorites. It’s very inspirational to read about a man who clearly loved life as much as Buck O’Neil, even in the face of the terrible discrimination and prejudice he faced.
Just wondering if anyone has been to the Negro Leagues Museum. I will be in KC this Summer and plan on checking it out. I’m sure it is great just wanted to see what anyone who has been there thought about it.
Sean, Posnanski’s got a really good piece on the Negro Leagues Museum, well worth checking out, though it’s not exactly positive. I suspect that the stuff Joe’s talking about wouldn’t ruin the visit of non-insiders like (I presume) most of us, but it is disappointing nonetheless.
http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/12/15/the-museum/
Funny. I got this book for my Dad for Christmas this past year and his first reaction after reading it was: “I wish I could’ve met him”.
Sean –
When I went on a baseball roadtrip to 12 different stadiums four years ago, we stopped by the Negro Leagues Museum on our stop in KC. We had a better time there than we had at any of the stadiums we visited.
I will admit that a lot of that was because we just happened to go on a day when Buck was visiting, and he signed vintage Monarchs hats and took pictures with us. It was an awesome moment.
Even though that won’t happen for you, the Museum is great and I would greatly encourage you to spend an afternoon there.