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With Opening Day around the corner...

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MrMet

Well-known member
Apr 6, 2010
13,556
612
The Poconos
I'd like to share this article I cut it of some magazine a long time ago, about Buck O'Neils best day in baseball, but it's the last paragraph, which is two lines, that really sums up Opening Day for me. Here's the article, I'll transcribe it below in case the photo is too small to read.
ImageUploadedByFreedom Card Board1395433360.124409.jpg

The intro begins: The 90 year old Royals scout has had some pretty good days in baseball. After all, he played first base for the Kansas City Monarchs, became the first African-American coach in the majors (with the Cubs), signed Billy Williams, Lou Brock and Joe Carter, and lit up Ken Burns' documentary Baseball. This one day in particular stands out.
Now the quote from Buck
"Every day, playing for the Kansas City Monarchs was good for me. But my best day, my favorite day, would have been Easter Sunday 1943. We open the season in Memphis, Tenn. I'm 31 years old. First time up I double. Next time up I single. Next time up, I hit the ball over the left-field fence. Next time up, I hit it to left-center and it looks like it's going out of the park. I'm running to first, holler in', "hit the fence! hit the fence! hit the fence!" And it did hit the fence between the centerfielder and the leftfielder. As I'm coming into third the third-base coach is yellin', 'go! go! go!' 'cause I can get an inside the park homerun. But I stop at third. He says 'What are you doing?' I say 'No, man, I want this triple.'
It took him a second to realize what I really was after. Never had hit for the cycle before, nor done it since. A lot of great players never hit for the cycle. But anyway that's not the end of the story. See, that night I'm relaxing at the hotel. The man who owned the hotel restaurant – his wife is a schoolteacher. And she had invited some young schoolteachers over to meet the ballplayers. I go downstairs and these school teachers are sitting by the door. I walk straight up to this young woman I say, 'My name is Buck O'Neil, what's yours?' And we're married for 51 years.
So I hit for the cycle and met my future wife on the same day. How's that for a good day?
And, you know something? That's kind of what I like about the start of every baseball season you never know what's gunna happen or who you're going to see for the first time.
Whenever the Royals are playing in town – if I'm in town or not doing something else – I'm at the ballpark. I work for the Royals so, of course, I root for the Royals, but then again I find myself rooting for ballplayers. Kind if like, 'show me what you got'.
See, I've seen so much baseball. As a kid, I saw Babe Ruth hit a homerun in spring-training. I played with Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. I watched Dizzy Dean and Ernie Banks and Willie Mays and Hank Aaron and George Brett and both Ken Griffeys. So I can equate the talent of every new ballplayer coming up with somebody before him. 'Hmmmm, he runs a little like Willie Mays'. That's what's exciting.
And it makes me feel great around this time of year. No matter how old you get, when baseball season starts, it always feels like the beginning.
- Buck O'Neil with Cal Fussman
 

NE12BC12

New member
Aug 5, 2011
187
0
Great article. This time of the year makes my old bones feel young. Already have tickets for the third game of the Red Sox season!
 

MrMet

Well-known member
Apr 6, 2010
13,556
612
The Poconos
And it makes me feel great around this time of year. No matter how old you get, when baseball season starts, it always feels like the beginning.
- Buck O'Neil with Cal Fussman

That's the line I love about this article
 

WizardofOz1982

Well-known member
Sep 30, 2017
1,736
1,498
Oklahoma
Gotta love Buck O'Neil and baseball. That last line is one of my two favorite quotes about the start of a baseball season.

Hornsby had the other: "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."
 

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