Keith Olbermann had a great segment on Countdown yesterday-that shows how the great Buck O'Neil was screwed. He also interviewed Ernie Banks to get his thoughts on this painful subject.
See the Video-it's about 9 minutes long.
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transcript
Olbermann: The man some call baseball`s greatest ambassador was denied admission on Monday to its Hall of Fame, in what is scheduled to be his last opportunity for election. Tuesday, he told the people who voted against him that he would be happy to speak at the induction ceremonies anyway on behalf of the 17 deceased individuals who they did elect.
Our number one story on the COUNTDOWN, that is Buck O`Neil in a nutshell. Ninety-four years old, first baseman on four pennant winners and manager of five more in the old Negro Leagues, the first man of color to be a coach in the major leagues, also told the rest of us who are still incensed at the snub not to be angry at those voters.
This while those voters continued to hide behind the cloak of anonymity, refusing to say who voted for O`Neil and the equally deserving Minnie Minoso and who didn`t and why. This while it proves that the voting process that excluded O`Neil and the 83-year-old Minoso was a blank check, a yes or no ballot. The 12-member committee had 39 finalists to select from; it could have elected all 39, O`Neil and Minoso included, if it had wanted to. ...read on