BOSTON (AP) -One of the game’s most beloved ambassadors, Buck O’Neil was posthumously honored Wednesday by the Hall of Fame with a Lifetime Achievement Award named in his memory.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig was on hand for the announcement at Fenway Park before the World Series opener between Colorado and Boston.
O’Neil, a Negro Leagues star and the first black coach in the majors, fell two votes shy of induction into the Hall of Fame during a special election in February 2006. He died last October at age 94.
A statue of O’Neil will be erected inside the museum, and the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to a worthy recipient no more than every three years.
“His impact on the game has been enormous,” Selig said. “He’s now in Cooperstown where he belongs.”
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