I've heard of Buck O'Neil but didn't really know that much about him, so when I saw this book where the author, Joe Posnanski calls him The Soul of Baseball I couldn't resist giving it a shot. Turns out the name was quite fitting. O'Neil was both a player and manager in the Negro Leagues and became the first African American to coach in The Major Leagues. Posnanski had the opportunity to spend a year traveling with the 94 year old Buck as he traversed the country speaking about his time in the Negro Leagues. The book is humorous, informative, and most of all inspirational. Buck was exposed to extreme racism during his playing days but always maintained a positive attitude and always stressed the good rather than the bad. He talked about love for everyone and believed that people were good at heart and that things will always work out. A credit to the game ! ( )

Joe Posnanski’s The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America is a warm and wonderful ode to the Negro Leagues and to O’ Neil, one of the great advocates for the long overdue recognition of Negro League players, and one of the finest ambassadors of baseball itself. Posnanski, with his usual flair for storytelling and his evident love of the game, chronicles the year he spent crisscrossing the country with Buck on his goodwill tour. The book is filled with stories of the Negro Leagues, some hilarious and some somber, that capture the essence of what it was like to play ball in that era, shut out from competing in the Major Leagues until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. Posnanski provides insight into O ‘Neil’s heart and soul. This is not quite a biography of the man, but it paints a beautiful portrait of him. ( )

A wonderful mystical journey through baseball through the eyes of the gentle caring soul of Buck O'Neal. The book gives the reader a fascinating glimpse of Negro baseball, but even more interesting is the way Buck handles life and the hardships that he's endured. Terrific read. ( )

I recently watched the 10-disc Ken Burns series “Baseball” on DVD. In this series, my favorite interview person was Buck O’Neil. His enthusiasm was contagious, so I was thrilled to come across “The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America”. It was written by the sports columnist Joe Posnanski, who followed O’Neil in his travels throughout the 2005 Major League Baseball season. O’Neil, at 94, was one of the last players left from the Negro Baseball League. He was also the first African-American coach in the MLB. The Negro league flourished in the 1930’s and 1940’s, but petered out after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier when he signed with the Dodgers in 1946.
O’Neil’s mission was to spread the word of how the Negro League really was. He believed the books written so far were too sterile, that the real players were not only some of the greatest athletes ever, but just as full of personality as any superstar MLB player today. Through over 200 event appearances a year, he promoted the induction of those players into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Baseball aficionados will love the reminiscences of games past and learn stories they’ve not heard before. O’Neil had a remarkable memory, and passed on many wonderful stories of his playing and coaching days. He tells of the racism and hard times the players endured, but never asks for pity.
Posnanski captures the real O’Neil: his humor, heartaches, and wisdom.
This is a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of a time long past. With the passing of O’Neil in 2006, we may never have this chance again.
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To begin with: if you are a fan of baseball, you should read this book.

If you are a fan of Civil Rights, you should probably read this book.

This book made me smile on one page and cry on the next. It made me completely indignant about all of the injustices in the world, all of the unspeakably horrible things that happen in the tiniest actions (or inactions), and yet it left me unable to be truly angry about them - because that is the lesson of Buck O'Neil: How not to be bitter.

This book is incredibly well-written, and I am surprised I haven't heard (more?) about it before now. I have to applaud Joe Posnanski for his handling of the subject matter. I found it remarkable that he managed to introduce himself and his purpose at the beginning of the book, and then completely disappear from the narrative. It is essentially omniscient, unbiased journalism (as if such a thing existed; and anyway of course it is skewed in O'Neil's favor). And then at the end he reappears, as he should, representing the feelings of pretty much everyone with his indignation, and closing the book appropriately.

And then there is the seamless way in which Posnanski occasionally incorporates the lyrics of the great jazz standards into his prose.

Obviously I knew Buck was gonna die at the end of the book. I bawled my eyes out anyway.

I am so glad that the New York Times published an article about the Negro Leagues Museum, and that I read it, and that I then planned a weekend (baseball) trip to Kansas City. Not sure when I would have gotten around to this book, if not for the trip. Not even sure I would have heard of it.

This review isn't doing this book any justice. Just read it already.
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