Later this summer, Rachel Robinson will become the fourth recipient of the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award.
Seventy years after Jackie Robinson broke the modern color barrier in Major League Baseball, his widow, Rachel Robinson, has received some much-deserved recognition this year. In April, when the Los Angeles Dodgers unveiled a statue of Jackie, Rachel was the guest of honor. She appeared at the game with the couple’s daughter, Sharon, and around 200 members of the Robison family.
Rachel Robinson has a long history of helping others. She launched the Jackie Robinson Foundation in 1973. The organization has since provided college scholarships for more than a thousand students over the years. Ten years ago, she was honored by Bud Selig with the Commission’s Historic Achievement Award.
The recognition for Robinson will continue this summer when she receives the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement award from the baseball Hall of Fame. She will receive the award on July 29, the day before players Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan Rodriguez are enshrined in Cooperstown.
The Buck O’Neil Award was created in 2008. At the same time, a life-size bronze statue of O’Neil was dedicated in the Hall of Fame Museum. According to the Hall of Fame page:
"“The Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award is presented by the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors not more than once every three years to honor an individual whose extraordinary efforts enhanced baseball’s positive impact on society, broadened the game’s appeal, and whose character, integrity and dignity are comparable to the qualities exhibited by O’Neil.”"
Buck O’Neil was a memorable part of “Inning 5: Shadow Ball” in the Ken Burns Baseball documentary. He was one of many African-Americans who played at a time when they were barred from Major League Baseball because of the color of their skin. In the documentary, he brought the Negro Leagues to life with his stories of many of the all-time greats, including Satchel Paige, who may have been the greatest pitcher who ever lived. He did it all with obvious joy and a lust for life. You felt better about the world just hearing his voice.
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In 2008, Buck O’Neil was the first recipient of the award named for him but, sadly, it came two years after his death. It also came two years after one of the great injustices in the history of the Baseball Hall of Fame. A special Negro Leagues Committee had been formed to induct players and front office officials into the Hall of Fame. They chose 17 people to represent the Negro Leagues . . . but Buck O’Neil was not among them. The 17 inductees were all dead, but the living embodiment of all that was good about those times was passed over. It was deflating for everyone who knew Buck.
Amazingly, Buck O’Neil took the disappointment in stride. It must have been a very painful moment when he learned he was not among the 17 who were being honored, but O’Neil set aside his feelings and asked if he could speak on behalf of those who were elected. When the induction ceremonies came around that summer, O’Neil was up there on the stage with a smile on his face and love in his heart.
O’Neil’s story was told beautifully by Joe Posnasnki in the book, The Soul of Baseball. In the book, Posnanski writes about touring the country with the ninety-four-year-old Buck O’Neil. It’s a wonderfully uplifting book about a man who never let the difficulties he faced in life get him down. And, unlike many former ballplayers who bash the players who came after them, O’Neil embraced the changes in baseball and admired the current crop of talent he saw on the field.
Rachel Robinson will be the fourth recipient of the award. O’Neil was the first. In 2011, Roland Hemond was the second. Hemond has been in baseball for parts of seven decades in numerous roles with a number of clubs. He’s also helped former scouts and players who were in need of special support over the years. The third recipient was Joe Garagiola in 2014. Garagiola had a nine-year MLB career followed by many years as a broadcaster. He helped found The Baseball Assistance Team and the National Spit Tobacco Education Program.
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Upon learning she would be recognized for a lifetime of helping others, Rachel Robinson said, “I am honored that the Hall of Fame has invited me to receive the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award. Buck O’Neil was such a champion of baseball—and the Hall of Fame does an extraordinary job of recognizing individuals who have committed their lives to this great game.” She is a worthy recipient.