I’ve seen men lose 50 years in just a few hours. Baseball is better than sex. It is better than music, although I do believe jazz comes in a close second. It does fill you up.
–John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil, Jr. (1911-2006)
Mr. O’Neil died last Friday at 94. He was a star of the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues, the first black coach in the majors and a central figure in Ken Burns’ 1994 PBS film Baseball. Thanks to Russ Neff for calling the O’Neil quote to our attention.
Doug, I noted (in that deleted comment) that Ted Williams was also a big jazz fan, especially of Errol Garner’s playing.
This ties in with O’Neil. When Ted was elected to the Hall of Fame, in 1966 or so, he insisted that the Hall voters shouldn’t overlook Negro League players. Several were eventually elected, though not O’Neil, who lost out in a close vote just a few months ago.