I Was Right on Time: My Journey from Negro Leagues to the Majors
by Buck O'Neil
Overview
From the Publisher
From Babe Ruth to Bo Jackson, from Cool Papa Bell to Lou Brock, Buck O'Neil has seen it all. As a first baseman and then manager of the legendary Kansas City Monarchs, O'Neil witnessed the heyday of the Negro leagues and their ultimate demise.
In I Was Right on Time, he charmingly recalls his days as a ballplayer and as an African-American in a racially divided country. Whether he's telling of his barnstorming days with the likes of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson or the day in 1962 when he became the first African-American coach in the major leagues, O'Neil takes us on a trip not only through baseball's past but through America's as well.
My thoughts
I don't even like baseball! So what's a nice girl like me doing reading a book about some old baseball guy? Well, I read the book on a challenge and let me tell you, I am SO glad I did! This may be one of the best books I've EVER read! Seriously!
I LOVED THIS BOOK! I dare you to read it and not fall in love with Buck O'Neil! Why isn't he in the Baseball Hall of Fame? It's a shame he's not, even though he'll humbly tell you he doesn't deserve the honor. He's wrong. He deserves the honor. What an incredible human being.
I don't even like baseball but this book had me glued from cover to cover. I couldn't wait for one more story. I couldn't wait to see what Buck O'Neil did next. The book is written in a way that you can almost hear him telling you the stories himself. As I finished the book on my lunch hour, tears ran down my face. Yes, a baseball book was that touching!
This is a story about baseball. It's also a story about life. About growing up black in a white world, though don't expect to find bitterness in these pages. Buck O'Neil makes his point about injustice in the world without arrogance or pity. He is grateful for what life has handed him, and he has worked hard to pave the way for future African Americans in baseball and in life so that they won't have the struggles he faced. Buck O'Neil, of Ken Burns' Baseball fame, is classy, intelligent, full of grace, and has a wonderful sense of humor! You just can't read this book without loving him!
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Kansas City, Missouri
Favorite Passage
There are SO many. My very favorite is short and sweet:
The greatest thing in all my life is loving you. Sing it. Together.
But because there are SO many wonderful stories in this book, let me share more, please!
The thing about the game, though is not how you hold on to that baseball but how that baseball holds on to you. You know what I'm saying now, don't you? You play it as a child, and no matter how old you get, you're still a child when you're chattering in the infield or getting your uniform dirty or taking that lead off first. No matter how much money you make from baseball, I do believe professional ballplayers would have played it for free -- heck, I lost automobiles and got shot at playing those first few years. Just being around baseball is an elixir.
Nowadays whenever us Negro-leaguers put on the old uniforms for autograph-signings and such, you can just see the years peel away. I've seen men lose fifty years in just a few hours. Baseball is better than sex. It is better than music, although I do believe jazz comes in a close second. It does fill you up.
