Induct Buck O'Neil into Baseball's Hall of Fame

To:  Bud Selig and the Veterans' Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame

On July 30th, 2006, seventeen Negro League legends, all deceased, will be inducted to the Hall of Fame. The eighteenth should be the man who made their names known to us, and for 70 years, has been baseball’s most tireless servant: Buck O’Neil. Some mistakes can never be undone. And it would be unforgivable to let Buck O’Neil’s name pass from our history, when he did so much to preserve the history of the game for us.

The Baseball Hall of Fame elevates All-Stars, Pennant winners, and Batting Champs who became legends for their play between the lines. It enshrines managers, coaches, and scouts who changed the game through the players they influenced. It memorializes historians, pioneers, and servants of the game, who changed our perception of the game, and helped us to remember its great past. To have achieved greatly in any one of these fields is enough to make person worthy of enshrinement among the greats. Yet Buck O’Neil, whose accomplishments encompass all of the above, has been neglected. It is time to give him his due.

To the Veterans’ Committee, we ask you to convene a special assembly to rectify this error immediately, so that Buck O’Neil can enter the Hall of Fame in 2006 with the rest of this class of Negro League greats. To Commissioner Selig, we petition you to use all your power, influence, and authority as the leader of Major League Baseball to right this error and give this 92 year old baseball legend his long-awaited and well-deserved reward as a member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Induct Buck O'Neil into Baseball's Hall of Fame Petition to Bud Selig and the Veterans' Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame was created by and written by Tom Kessler (BuckOneilHOF@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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