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

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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.

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

"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.

My son, Jeremy, always gives me good books. He doesn't just pick up the latest best-seller, but takes the time to choose something special just for me. He hit a home run with The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanski. It's the story of an extended road trip Posnanski took with legendary Negro League player and manager Buck O'Neil. The lessons learned along the way are great ones for sons and fathers to share.

Posnanski, an award-winning sports columnist for the Kansas City Star, chose not to write a biography of the irrepressible O'Neil, even though the story could bear to be told over and over again. Instead, he penned a moving memoir of the year he spent with the then-93-year-old O'Neil as he toured the country promoting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City and the memory of those men who played the game in the days before whites and blacks could share the field. The trip takes them everywhere from Nicodemus, Kansas, to New York, New York, and O'Neil has a fascinating story to tell at every stop.

He talks about Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Josh Gibson, names that will always be enshrined in baseball's collective memory. But he also tells the tales of forgotten men like Dan Bankhead, the first black pitcher in the major leagues, who would have been a great hurler if he hadn't been afraid to pitch fastballs inside against white batters.

The key theme of the book is Buck O'Neil's spirit-lifting embrace of the best in every person he met. Despite years of back-breaking struggle, O'Neil never turned bitter, never condemned anyone for their prejudice, never had a bad word to say about the often ugly conditions the black ball players endured. Even when he failed to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Buck O'Neil refused to be angry about it. To make up for the egregious mistake, the Hall awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award after his death.

The lessons Posnanski drew from his experiences with O'Neil are well worth telling and the book he created from them is well worth reading.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo

I have been reading Posnanski for years and have read every word he has written about Buck. Thus, I really didn't expect to learn anything new in this book. I was wrong. It is fresh material and as is always the case with Posnanski, incredibly well written. I felt like I was along for the ride as Joe traveled the nation with O'Neil toward the end of this amazing man's life. The book really gets to O'Neil's soul and makes us all pause to think about what is truly important in life. Incredible read for anyone. Lots of great baseball stories, but so much more.

I love Buck O'Neil but who didn't? So I was going to enjoy any book that was about him. But this book gave me a chance to see the world through his wisdom and for that I am truly grateful. I don't read much but when I started this book I could not stop untill I finished. The stories were great and put together in such a way that I just had to read the next one.

The biggest thing I am taking away from reading this book is the need in life to keep things positive. Buck lived through horrible injustices yet only spread love. My life will never be 1/100th as hard but yet I'm inspired by the tales in this book to try to spread at least 1/100th of the love... And that will leave me with a lot of work to do.

I just promise that on my way I'll never pass a lady in a red dress.

(ps I bought this for the kindle iPad app and it was a flawless read. Copy and paste would be nice though. )

I first became aware of Buck O'Neil through the Ken Burns series on baseball. Buck stole the show. He was such a wonderful, charming, delightful person. This book does an outstanding job of showing that side of Buck. Posnanski trailed Buck for a full year as Buck traveled around America and promoted baseball in general and the memory of the old Negro Leagues in particular. It's full of humorous anecdotes, Buck's amazingly positive outlook on life, and provides a wonderful insight into the movement to get Negro League players inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame. Readers should find this book educational, but more than that, will find it delightfully entertaining. Be prepared to laugh, but also to cry.

This is my first review of anything on Amazon and I am sure that it will also be my last. However, I had to share the feelings that I have right now. I finished reading this book about 15 minutes ago and I don't think I have ever wanted a book to never end more than this one. This book is a little bit baseball, and little bit stories, and a little bit wit and wisdom. It is a lot like the jazz that Buck loved so much. Even if you don't really like baseball this book will touch you like not many other books can or will. It will grab your heart because this book is about a man that we can all learn from. Mr. O'Neil's life is a wonderful testimony of what being "better not bitter" is all about. When Buck spoke at the Baseball Hall of Fame where 17 Negro Leaguers were inducted into the Hall he had everyone there hold hands and sing with him, "The greatest thing, in all my life, is loving you." Well Buck, let me just say, the greatest thing for all of us was loving you.

This is a must-read for any true baseball fan or historian. Buck O'Neil is one of my heroes, and Mr. Posnanski does a wonderful job of capturing his beautiful spirit. Great interviews with other former players, stories of how the Negro Leagues really operated, all-around a great and tremendously moving book.

An individual, yet compelling and comprehensive, look back at baseball as a sport and social barometer of America. Buck O'Neil's stories about, and insights into, the game and the players are fascinating.

Mr. O'Neil's well defined baseball skill as a player and coach is exceeded only by his love of the game, and his ability to connect with players and fans alike on a deeply personal level.

This is a book about a philosopher, who, by chance, also played baseball.

Great read!