In Praise of the New York Knicks

The New York Knicks are finally back on top winning the NBA Championship for the first time in 53 years with their stunning game five comeback victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

As an avid Knick fan it sure has been a long wait. But what an incredible playoff run it was.

Winning 16 of 19 games over four series; at one point winning 13 in a row.

The Knicks did it with a perfectly balanced team. Each player among their five starters and five backups are seasoned veterans playing at the top of their game. All with a minimum of at least five seasons under their belts they were an experienced team hungry for a championship. And they each found a way to step up their game to earn the title with a perfect team effort.

Karl Anthony Towns in addition to being ferocious rebounder and prolific scorer, learned to pass the ball and set up his teammates for success. OG Anunoby combined his dominant defense and accurate three-point shooting with an unstoppable move to the basket. Mikal Bridges emerged from a shooting slump to become a deadly shooter in clutch situations. Josh Hart never stopped his amazing rebounding and added timely shots from three-point range. Mitchell Robinson led the bench players with bruising defense and bone-crunching rebounding. Landry Shamet and Deuce McBride sparked the team time and again with red hot shooting. Jordan Clarkson’s freewheeling style provided energy and pop when it was most needed. And Jose Alvarado zoomed around the court energizing the entire team in crucial moments.

And of course, finally we come to Jalen Brunson the captain and team leader. With his recording break performance Saturday night Brunson owns New York. Scoring almost half of his team’s points Brunson’s 45-point outburst in a championship clinching games was the most in Knicks’ history and the best performance in a crucial game in NY sports history. But let’s not forget that basketball is still a team game. Yes, in the final minutes of their most important game the Knick handed their offense over to Brunson; their closer. But still the whole team played tenacious defense in those final minutes. They grabbed every rebound and dove for every loose ball. It was a team effort and as the entire season was, led by the undeniable MVP Jalen Brunson.

And one final word about the coach, Mike Brown. The coach they didn’t really want. The coach nobody believed in. Yet he too was experienced and at the top of his game. And his performance on every level throughout the season and especially in the playoffs was unquestionably brilliant. The only measure of a truly successful coach is leading your team to a championship, which is exactly what coach Brown did.

Here’s to the NBA Champions; the New York Knicks.

The Greatest World Series Game Ever?

Now that we’ve had a little time to reflect on Saturday night’s classic World Series game, I can now say that the LA Dodgers 5-4 win in 11 innings against the Toronto Blues Jays in game seven of the 2025 World Series was one of the greatest World Series games ever, if not the greatest. But just to be sure I checked in with my good friend Grandpa Gordy who, as you know if you have read my book Grandpa Gordy’s Greatest World Series Games, is an expert on World Series games. This was our conversation.

“Well let me think. It was a pretty darn good game that’s for sure.”

Then I said, “well, it had all the ingredients to be one of the greatest games ever, filled with tremendous drama. “

“Got to agree with that. It was a seventh game. Don’t get any more dramatic than a seventh game.”

And I added, “and it was decided in the final inning.”

“Extra innings to boot. Now as I recall there were some pretty darn good extra inning-seventh games. The one way back in 1924 when the Washington Senators beat the New York Giants was a doozy. And it was in my book.”

“That’s right. I know and so was the 1991 Minnesota Twins’ 1-0 victory over the Braves.”

“Hey and don’t forget when the underrated Florida Marlins beat Cleveland in 1997.”

“That’s right. It went 11 innings.”

“In my book too. And there’s that classic game in 2016 when the Chicago Cubs ended their 108-year draught and finally won a World Series. That was another doozy.”

“I don’t remember that one from your book.”

“You wouldn’t because my book came out in 2002.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be critical”

‘That’s okay. I’m working on my updated version.”

“So, Friday night the Blue Jays were only two outs away from winning the World Series when the Dodgers’ number nine hitter Miguel Rojas blasted a game-tying home run. Pretty dramatic.”

“Well, that’s for sure but in 2001 the Yankees were only two outs away from victory with Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera on the mound when Arizona’s Tony Womack lashed a game-tying double.”

“Who?”

Tony Womack DIGITAL IMAGE Mandatory Credit: Jed Jacobsohn/ALLSPORT

“That’s right. You think Miguel Rojas was an unsung hero? Well, how about Tony Womack in the ninth inning of game seven against the Yanks!”

“Well, that’s true. But what about that incredible bottom of the ninth. The Blues Jays had the bases loaded, one out. The winning run ninety feet away and Rojas (again Rojas!) makes a backhanded stab at second base, stumbles, but still fires a laser to nail the Blue Jay runner at home by a millisecond. The Blue Jays literally lost the World Series by a millisecond! And then Andy Pages makes a sensational game-saving, World Series-saving catch in deep left-center field!”

“Yeah, hard to top that!”

“And then in the top of the 11^th Will Smith hits the go-ahead home run.”

“That’s true but I’m sure you heard of that Bill Mazeroski fellow who hit the only walk-off, game-seven home run in World Series history way back in 1960 for the Pirates over the Yankees.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that. But what about Yoshi Yamamoto’s performance, pitching the final two innings in game seven after starting and winning game six.”

“Well, if I’m not mistaken that big ol’ scraggly-haired lefty Randy Johnson did the same thing against the Yanks in game six and game seven of the 2001 World Series.”

“Wow. That’s amazing. But what about the bottom of the 11^th. The Blues Jays had first and third with only one out. The tying run was on third and the winning run on first.”

“Oh yeah. That was pretty incredible, but Kirk hit into a double play ending it.”

“A really nice clutch play but Mookie Betts.”

“No doubt about it. The defense in the entire Series was tremendous. But think about this.” Grandpa Gordy scratched his beard. “What if Kirk hit a gapper and that guy Madison Barger who was on first came flying around third and slid into home with the winning running, beating the throw by a millisecond. And Blue Jays have comeback and are the champs.”

“Oh yeah. That would have been truly sensational!”

“So if that happened there would have been no doubt that this was the greatest World Series game ever.”

“I guess we can agree on that.”

“Yep and that in a little over three months it’s “pitchers and catchers”.

“Agreed!”

References: Grandpa Gordy’s Greatest World Series Games https://amzn.to/2T9lYVT

And The Baseball Almanac

Big Joe, Lenny and the Wild Thing

As we get ready for tonight’s game three of the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers it’s a good time to take a trip back down memory lane to the last time the Blue Jays made it to the Series in 1993. In that Series, the Blue Jays against the Philadelphia Phillies, game six was one of the most memorable games in baseball history.

And if you haven’t learned about that game, you probably haven’t read my first book Grandpa Gordy’s Greatest World Series Games. It’s a great book for a baseball fan to read to your child or grandchild or just read it for yourself if you love the game. Chapter 13 entitled Game Six 1993 Big Joe, Lenny and the Wild Thing features that incredible game.

You can pick up the book by clicking on this link. https://amzn.to/2T9lYVT

Here’s a quick summary of that exciting game.

The Blue Jays, who were the defending champions, led the Phillies three games to two and were cruising through game six with a 5-1 lead going into the top of the seventh. It was then that “Little” Lenny Dykstra blasted a three-run home run of Dave Stewart to put the Phillies back in the game. They then pushed across two more runs and went ahead 6-5.

1993: Pitcher Mitch Williams of the Philadelphia Phillies in action during a Phillies game versus the San Diego Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, CA. (Photo by Icon Sportswire)

Toronto failed to score in the seventh and eighth and Philadelphia called on their fire balling closer Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams to pitch the ninth. Williams immediately got into trouble when by walking Ricky Henderson. After recording an out Williams faced the Series’ eventual MVP Paul Molitor who laced his 12^th hit of the Series.

That brought up “Big Joe” Carter Toronto’s leftfielder and best slugger. During the regular season Carter led the Blue Jays with 33 home runs and 121 RBI’s. “Big Joe” got the best of the “Wild Thing” and lashed a line drive over the left field wall for a three-run, game-winning, World Series-winning home run. It was then, and still is, only the second time in World Series history that the Series ended with a walk-off home run. That time occurred in 1960 when Bill Mazeroski of the Pirates homered in the bottom of the ninth in game seven to beat the Yankees.

Let’s see what drama unfolds in the 2025 World Series and if Grandpa Gordy needs to add to his greatest World Series games.

Reference: Grandpa Gordy’s Greatest World Series Games, by Steven A. Falco 2002

Joost to Suder to Fain

By guest blogger Bruce Solomon

In 1949, the Philadelphia A’s set a still-standing major-league record by turning 217 double plays. The A’s went on to accumulate a three-year total of 629 DPs, a record that stands today, even with MLB’s longer playing seasons. Most of these twin-killings involved their keystone combination of shortstop Eddie Joost and second baseman Pete Suder, along with first baseman Ferris Fain. Using the meter of Franklin Pierce Adams’ famous “Tinker to Evers to Chance,” the A’s PR director Dick Armstrong in 1950 composed a poetic tribute to these now-forgotten A’s record-setters, “Joost to Suder to Fain”:

Voluminous prose has been written by those

Who have this one thought to advance:

That the greatest combine in the double play line

Was Tinker to Evers to Chance.

Those three famous Cubs were surely not dubs.

Their fielding was something sublime.

They were far and away the class of their day,

The double play kings of the time.

But they’ve since been dethroned and partly disowned.

No longer as kings do they reign.

For a new DP team is ruling supreme,

Known as Joost to Suder to Fain.

These sensational A’s have perfected their ways

To a point where they lead all the rest.

As twin killings go, three years in a row

They’ve ranked as the Major Leagues’ best.

There’s never a worry; they’ll comply in a hurry,

When a quick double play is desired.

A roller or liner just couldn’t be finer,

You can bet that two men are retired.

You may already know what the record books show,

Three years they’ve continued to shine,

All others surpassing this record amassing:

A total of six twenty-nine!

Eddie Joost rings the bell as a shortstop as well

As a mighty good man with the stick.

To select someone who has an arm that’s as true,

It would be an impossible pick.

On second there stands “the man with the hands.”

If a ball’s hit to Pete there’s no doubt.

You never need look, jot it down in your book,

It’s a cinch that the batter is out.

A hitter’s accursed with Ferris on first.

There’s no one as clever as he,

At spearing a bounder or sizzling grounder

And completing that tough three-six-three.

A long time from now, when they’re telling of how

So and so could get two with no strain,

We’ll think of the days of Connie Mack’s A’s,

And of Joost and Suder and Fain.

— Dick Armstrong, 1950

Ferris Fain, Hank Majeski, Pete Suder, Eddie Joost 1949

The Steal of the Century

It was 69 years ago today that Jackie Robinson stole home for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Yankees in game one of the 1955 World Series. It is a play that is this talked about and argued about to this day. And it is one of the moments in baseball history that explains Why We Love Baseball as told by Joe Posnanski in his great book of the same name. I’ll set the stage here and then let Posnanski take over with an excerpt from his fabulous book. Most baseball fans are familiar with the accounts of the event but read to the end to see and feel the true poignancy of the moment.

Jackie Robinson was on third base in the eighth inning of game one. There was one out and the Dodgers were down by two runs. The Dodgers had never beaten the Yankees in a World Series having lost 5 previous times. Whitey Ford was on the mound for New York and of course Yogi Berra was behind the plate. Robinson took off for home and as he slid into home Berra applied the tag. Umpire Bill Summers called Robinson safe. Berra did not agree. There is a huge picture of this moment in the Yogi Berra Museum in Montclair, New Jersey. According to Posnanski and Yogi’s family whenever Berra passes the photo, no matter what he is talking about, he points to the photo and declares “safe”.

According to Posnanski there are three reasons why people still talk about this play. First, it involved two of the games’ most iconic players, Robinson and Berra. Second, it involved one of baseball’s greatest rivalries, the Dodgers and the Yankees. Third, we still don’t know whether Robinson was safe or out.

I’ll let Posnanski take over from here.

Oh, you might think you know whether Robinson was safe or out. Lots of people think they know. Robinson was on third, a nice-sized lead and he was watching Ford closely. He then took small hops and took off for the plate while Ford was in his windup. Ford’s pitch beat him there, Yogi caught it with his left foot on home plate, he reached down with both his glove and right hand and tried to tag Robinson’s right foot just before it touched home.

Out? Safe? Home plate umpire Bill Summers did not hesitate. He ruled safe. Berra was sure he’d blown the call, so sure that he stood up and tore off his mask and began screaming at Summers like he never had at an umpire and never would again. Summers just kept stretching his arms, again and again, a repeat of his safe call, and then turned his back on Berra.

People have been arguing ever since.

There is one surviving film of the play. The replay shows everything… and nothing at all. It is a Rorschach replay. You will see in it exactly what you want. If you want to see Robinson out, he’s out. If you want to see him safe, he’s safe.

“It was bush stuff,” Berra shouted to reporters after the game. “It was showboat strategy, stealing home when you’re two runs behind like that. It was a bad play.”

Reporters raced over to Robinson for a response.

“The only thing bush about it,” Robinson replied, “was Berra’s tag.

Reporters raced back to Berra for his response to the response.

“He was out,” Berra said. “The call was blown. It was the wrong play, and he was out.”

Back to Robinson.

“Tell him to worry about himself,” Robinson said. “He didn’t tag me until after I crossed.”

Back and forth. The Yankees, as you know, won the game. But the Dodgers ended up winning that World Series—they finally beat the Yankees—and Jackie Robinson’s stolen base became a symbol of that victory.

And here’s the best part of the story. I’ll let Posnanski continue.

Jackie Robinson died in 1972. And for the next 40-plus years, Yogi Berra would often find himself at a banquet or celebration or gathering with Jackie’s widow Rachel Robinson.

They always greeted each other the same way.

“Safe,” Rachel would say.

“Out,” Yogi would say.

And then the two would laugh and hug.

References: Why We Love Baseball A History in 50 Moments by Joe Posnanski

The Baseball Almanac

Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center 8 Yogi Berra Drive Little Falls, NJ

Lou Gehrig Day Yankee Stadium, July 4, 1939

As we celebrate our nation’s Independence Day those of us who are endeared to baseball, our national pastime, also know that this date has another profound significance. It was 85 years ago this day that Lou Gehrig, the Hall-of -Fame first baseman, gave his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium sadly ending his stellar 17-year career. It is beyond my ability to describe the poignancy of Gehrig’s words so I will leave that to one of my favorite poets, Ed Romond and his wonderful poem:

Lou Gehrig Day Yankee Stadium, July 4, 1939

He was scared and did not want to speak to 62,000 people.

Maybe he felt facing death was enough to endure but

they kept calling his name till he stepped up to the mic

and gave 278 words of thank you and goodbye. His body trembled

as he spoke with the voice of a dying man still strong enough

to unlock his heart before thousands and let them all come in.

The poem was dedicated to BJ Ward. You can find this poem and many other excellent poems in:

Home Team Poems About Baseball

By Edwin Romond

Published by Grayson Books

Remembering Willie Mays

Baseball legend Wille Mays died yesterday at the age of 93. After starring in the Negro Leagues Mays went on to have a 23-year Hall-of-Fame career with the Giants finishing up back in New York with the Mets in 1973. Along the way Mays earned two MVP awards, batted over .300 ten times and when he retired, he was second only to Babe Ruth in career home runs with 660. He is now sixth on the all-time home run list. Willie appeared in three World Series, winning for the New York Giants in 1954 against the Cleveland Indians where he made his world-famous catch of Vic Wertz’s 425-foot blast in the first inning of game one. “The Catch” as it has been called ever since propelled his Giants to victory in five games.

But what I remember most about Willie Mays is how he tormented the American League in All Stars games throughout the 1960’s. Being from New Jersey I rarely got to see Mays once the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958. But I did see him in the Nationally televised All Star Games. I was a devoted Yankee fan and thus an American League fan and when the All Star Game rolled around every July I fervently rooted for the American League, which was routinely battered in those days by the National League and especially terrorized by the “Say Hey Kid”. I vividly remember that the 1960 All Star game in my home ballpark Yankee Stadium was ruined by Mays as he hit a third inning home run against my favorite pitcher Whitey Ford. The AL went on to suffer a demoralizing loss 6-0 with my hero Ford taking the loss.

The NL’s battering of the AL continued through the sixties and once again Willie Mays was in the forefront in 1965. That game, in Metropolitan Stadium, featured a National League team which was so good they had Mays leading off! Whether they were showing off or just trying to rub it in, us American League fans knew we were in for a rough day with the game’s best slugger leading off followed by the likes of Hank Aaron, Willie Stargell, Ernie Banks and Pete Rose. And sure enough the “Say Hey Kid” promptly led off the game with a home run against Milt Pappas and my AL was doomed again. Mays of course scored the winning run in the seventh inning of what turned out to be a close 6-5 loss for the AL.

Throughout the sixties the NL won 12 of 15 All Star games with Willie Mays leading the way. Having been tormented by him all those years I eventually came around to appreciate what a remarkable ball player and incredible human being Willie Mays really was. The world has suffered a great loss with the passing of Willie Mays. RIP.

References: baseball-almanac.com

Let’s Hear it for Hammerin’ Hank on the 50th Anniversary of his Record Breaking 715th Home Run

It was fifty years ago today that Hammerin’ Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run surpassing Babe Ruth’s long-standing record for lifetime home runs. On that cool early April afternoon in 1974 in Atlanta Stadium Aaron blasted a deep fly ball over the left-field wall against LA Dodger lefty Al Downing and became Major League Baseball’s all-time home run king.

I remember watching the momentous event with a small group of my college buddies. Yes, we cut classes to watch it. We had our priorities in order, although we were thankful that Hank came through that day saving us any further conflicts with our priorities.

Growing up a Yankee fan in the northeast in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s I didn’t get to see Aaron on a regular basis. But I’ll never forget attending a mid-60’s game at Shea Stadium, Mets against the Braves. We had great seats in the loge section courtesy of the corporate perks of my buddy’s father. I distinctly remember being in awe of Aaron. He had an almost regal presence as he slowly ambled up to the plate. He had an unusual habit of carrying his helmet to home plate and then slowly donning it over his cloth hat as he settled into the batter’s box. He would then take one or two practice swings flexing his powerful wrists. Aaron was known for his powerful wrists. (As kids and wannabe ball players we actually did Hank Aaron inspired exercises to strengthen our wrists.) Then with a flick of those wrists Aaron treated us with a long home run. One of his 755 lifetime home runs. Most of us at that time thought it would be Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays who would pass the legendary Babe. But looking back on it, if my college self could tell my teenage self, “Hey, Hammerin’ Hank just passed the Babe,” my teenage self would have said, “Wow! Hey, I knew he could do it!”

Hank Aaron’s 23-year Major League Baseball career spanned three decades playing for only two cities, Milwaukee, and Atlanta and only two teams the Braves for 21 years and his final two years in 1975-76 with the Milwaukee Brewers.

He is the all-time leader in RBI’s, extra base hits, and total bases. He is second in lifetime home runs to Barry Bonds and second in at bats to Pete Rose. During his Hall of Fame career, he led the National League in home runs four times, RBI’s four times and batting average twice.

In 1957 he won the National League MVP award while leading the Braves to a World Championship over the New York Yankees.

Hank Aaron passed away in 2021 at the age of 86.

Many regard Aaron as the best professional baseball player of all time.

Reference: baseball-reference.com

The Long-Forgotten Legend of Lipman Pike: Baseball’s First Jewish Star

By guest blogger Bruce Solomon

Few realized that baseball history would be made on July 16, 1866, a sweltering,
humid afternoon, when the Philadelphia Athletics took the field against the Alerts of
Danville at their new ball grounds in the City of Brotherly Love. Just a year earlier, the
field served as a bivouac and staging area for the Union Army in the waning days of
the Civil War. Up to the plate stepped 21-year-old Brooklyn native Lipman Pike, the
son of Jewish refugees from Holland and the fastest, strongest player on the Athletics
squad. Pike clouted the first pitch he saw deep to the gap in center field, using his
tremendous speed for an inside-the-park home run. In each of his next four at-bats,
Lip deposited the ball over the right field fence onto Columbia Avenue. Standing only
5’ 8” and 158 pounds, Lipman Pike was a veritable David amongst Goliaths, hitting five
home runs in five consecutive at-bats in one game – a feat that hasn’t been matched in
158 years.

A local newspaper published that Pike, and two other players were paid $20 per week
under the table by the Athletics, violating the amateur status of the “gentlemen’s sport”.
Pike was ordered to appear before the governing committee of the National
Association of Base Ball Players. The matter was dropped when no one from the
Association bothered to show up for the hearing. As a result, Lipman Pike is
considered one of the first professional athletes in America.
Lipman Pike went on to a storied career as professional baseball’s first slugger, first
Jewish player and manager, and the first American Jew to gain national fame as a
sports icon. Tales of his feats became the stuff of legend. 1871 was the first year of
the first professional baseball league, the National Association. Lipman Pike signed to
play with the Troy Haymakers, who named him their captain and field manager – the
first and only Jewish manager in baseball for the next 71 years. Pike led the National
Association in home runs in 1871, 1872 and 1873, hitting 17.2 percent of the home
runs swatted in the league in 1872, a record not broken until Babe Ruth in 1920. He
holds the all-time career records for home runs and extra base hits in the National
Association and won the home run crown in the National League in 1877, its second
year of existence.

This newspaper photo from 1866 features the Brooklyn Atlantics and the Philadelphia Athletics of the National Association of Base Ball Players. Pike is one of the mustachioed players though I’m not sure which one.

Pike was one of the fastest men in baseball. He would race any challenger for a cash prize and a side bet. In 1873, Pike raced against a trotting horse named Clarence in a 100-yard sprint at Baltimore’s Newington Park and won by 4 yards in a time of 10 seconds flat, earning $250 (worth about $6100 today).
While playing a game at Lakefront Park in Chicago in 1878, Lip Pike hit the longest double in major league history. Pike’s blast not only cleared the fence, but also a freight shed and half a dozen railroad cars, landing in a freight car traveling east. The
Cincinnati Enquirer estimated the ball flew 600 feet, but legend has it that it traveled
another 482 miles by rail. Due to the ground rules at Lakefront Park, Pike was only
credited with a double. A few years later in Albany, Pike hit a ball over the wall at
Riverside Park into the river. Right fielder Lou Knight began to go after the ball in a
boat, but finally gave up. This time, in spite of the ground rule, Pike was credited with
a home run.

His baseball career over, Lipman Pike became a successful haberdasher in Brooklyn,
where he was beloved and celebrated by the Jewish community. Lip’s haberdashery
became a successful business and a meeting place for the local baseball cognoscenti.
There was an outpouring of grief after his death from heart disease in 1893 at the age
of 48. The Sporting News wrote: “Pike . . . was one of the few sons of Israel who ever
drifted to the business of ball playing. Called out by Umpire Death . . . Lip Pike was
one of the greatest sluggers who ever batted.”

In the inaugural election for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, Lipman Pike received
one vote. He may not have a plaque in Cooperstown, but never fear. Lipman Pike,
this pioneer who held many of early baseball’s firsts, who as a young man lived up to
the nickname bestowed upon him, “The Iron Batter”, became professional baseball’s
first legitimate slugger. He was a 19th century ballplayer whose prowess on the ballfields
reflected the pride and hope felt by America’s most recent immigrant influx, Jewish
people. In 1985, one hundred nineteen years after he hit 5 home runs in 5 consecutive
at-bats in a game; ninety-two years after he succumbed to heart failure, Lipman Pike
was decisively elected to a place of honor on the bimah of the Jewish Sports Hall of
Fame in Netanya, Israel. You know how to get to the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame?
Start out in Cooperstown and when you can’t find a Lipman Pike plaque, take a hard
right and travel 6,000 miles straight to Netanya.

A Tribute to Buck O’Neil

One of my favorite blogs is Archived Innings by Precious Sanders. While recently going through some past posts on Archived Innings I came upon a post honoring Buck O’Neil the talented Negro League ball player who had just been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I have always been a fan of Buck O’Neil since I first learned about him watching Ken Burns’ documentary series Baseball. O’Neil was interviewed in the documentary and his stories about playing in the Negro Leagues were both enlightening and entertaining. He had such a warm and ingratiating personality I became an instant fan.

O’Neil was born in Carrabelle Florida in 1911 and became a steady if not spectacular first baseman for the Kansas City Monarchs, one of the best teams in the Negro Leagues. He had a lifetime batting average of .311. After his playing days were over, he became the first African American to coach in the Major Leagues. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

For his on-field accomplishments and his extraordinary contributions to the game of baseball O’Neil was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022. The following video is a round table discussion about that long overdue event. The remarkable panel includes Bob Kendricks curator of the Negro Leagues Museum, filmmaker Ken Burns, writer Joe Posnanski, sports announcer Bob Costa and former Major League pitching star CC Sabathia. It is a wide-ranging discussion that covers much of O’Neil’s inspiring life story, the Negro Leagues, and the eventual integration of Major League Baseball.

I hope you’ll take the time to click on the discussion and watch it in full. I do caution however that the discussion starts off slowly. The first fifteen minutes consists of long-drawn-out praise of O’Neil which, though justified, becomes a bit repetitious. There is also too much discussion about the delay in finally inducting O’Neil. But once you get by that the discussion is thoughtful, insightful, and entertaining in which the commentators bring to life a truly fascinating and vitally important slice of American History.

References: baseball-reference.com

Archived Innings by Precious Sanders