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Negro Leagues Museum adds new exhibits for Buck O'Neil

The Negro Leagues Museum received donations from the family of Buck O'Neil to honor the legend on the 101st anniversary of his birth.

By Kevin Jeffers
Jamie Squire

Baseball legend Buck O'Neil would have been 101 on Tuesday. In honor of the legend, the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City received two items dedicated to O'Neil, as the Kansas City Royals' official website writes.

O'Neil's family donated a miniature replica of the statue from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. They also donated O'Neil's Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award that was awarded to O'Neil by President George W. Bush in 2006, two months after O'Neil died at age 94.

O'Neil played first base and managed in the Negro Leagues for the Kansas City Monarchs from 1938-1955 after his first season with Memphis in 1937. He was a player-manager from 1948-'51, and missed the 1944 and '45 seasons due to military service. After his Negro Leagues career, he became a scout for the Chicago Cubs and was named the first black coach in Major League history.