The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America

A great book, if you are a baseball fan a must read. Buck O'Neil's knowledge, warmth & humor about sports & life in his era should not be forgotten.

"The Soul of Baseball" is the most entertaining and engaging book on sports I've read, since I discovered W.P. Kinsella's "Shoeless Joe Jackson" (which would later become "Field of Dreams") in 7th grade, 20 years ago. The great sportswriters can interpret the events from the field and the locker room, and craft them into stories that Joe & Jill Everyman can relate to. Nobody in the country is better at this than Joe Posnanski, Kansas City Star scribe, and two-time AP Sports Columnist of the Year. With "The Soul of Baseball," Posnanski unveils the amazing id, ego, and super-ego of Buck O'Neil, a baseball icon and civil rights pioneer, on par with Jackie Robinson and Branch Ricky. O'Neil is more than a charismatic man, who tells great stories; he is a force of nature, a hurricane of love, affecting anyone who crosses in his path. Posnanski follows the former player, coach, and scout as O'Neil educates the world about Negro League baseball. At 93-years-old, O'Neil's adventures in a 21st century America bring him into contact with cynical New York shock jocks, Negro League pretenders, and the occasional woman in a red dress. He embraces each one with the same amount of love and joie de vivre. "The Soul of Baseball" is a great book for baseball fans, fathers and sons, and anyone who interested in one of the most remarkable individuals to live in the past century. You'll want to re-read "The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America" again and again, and gift it to as many friends and family members as possible.

As someone who makes their living writing about baseball, Joe Posnanski is an inspiration. This is his first full-length book and he doesn't disappoint. He's made the story and humanity of Buck O'Neill something precious and poignant. He captured the side of Buck that we didn't often get to see. He was more than a symbol or a legend, he was a man. By capturing that spirit, we all get to hold onto the gift that O'Neill left for us - a joy for life, for a game, and for friendship. If Posnanski inspires me to write, O'Neill's story inspires me to live. If there's a better combination out there, I haven't found it. - Will Carroll, Baseball Prospectus

Is The Soul of Baseball a book about baseball? No. Is The Soul of Baseball a biography of Buck O'Neil? No. The Soul of Baseball is about life, the joys of living. Those little things we may do during the day that puts a smile on someone's face, that makes someone stop and - however briefly - put living back into its proper perspective. Yes, Buck O'Neil brought joy through talking about baseball - Negro Leagues Baseball - and through his recollections from a blessed life. But, more importantly, he held a mirror up to us and made the simple request to look for our heart & soul, and then share that warmth with as many people as possible. Author Joe Posnanski spent more than a year on the road with Buck O'Neil, chronicling the more than 200 events he attended nationwide at the ages of 93 and 94; from the largest to smallest ballparks, schools & media junkets and even to Washington, D.C. to give testimony before a Senate committee on why the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum deserved national designation. There was poetry to many statements from Buck O'Neil, which Posnanski makes special for the reader. His recollections on a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, baseball camp run by a friend, Willie Spooner, says it best: Nothing better Than baseball. For kids. Teach them all the lessons. How to be a teammate. How to be a man. Nobody does it for you. Gotta stand up. I remember Willie Used to tell those kids in Baton Rouge It's better to steal second Than to steal an apple. You will laugh and cry and won't want the book to end. But books, like life, must have a final page. Buck O'Neil passed away on October 6, 2006, at the age of 94. Share a smile with someone today and Buck O'Neil really isn't that far away. He still has that mirror in his hand, but this time he doesn't need any words; loving life needs no explanation.

If and when you get the opportunity of a lifetime, are you going to do it justice, or are you going to blow it? Joe Posnanski, a gifted observer and writer, got that opportunity when he spent a year traveling with Buck O'Neil, a true American icon. It turned out to be the last year of Buck's life, but despite the fact that he was 94, it was certainly eventful as the other 93 had been. Posnanski began with the intention of writing a book about the Negro Leagues, for which Buck was the somewhat official spokesman. In the end, it was a portrait of an amazing man and a life well lived. And in that portrait, it is, as well, a painting (not a photo, but a watercolor painting) of the Negro Leagues and the men that were a part of it. There are no words that can do this book and this man justice. Every chapter is a beautiful story that is guaranteed to make you laugh and simultaneously cry. Just read it. Posnanski took his opportunity of a lifetime and blasted it out of the park. When I finished the book, I told my wife that I want her to put a copy of this book in my coffin when I'm gone. Maybe it will help me have an after-life well lived. It's sure to help me here.