Another way to honor Buck O'Neil -- spell his name right

The unveiling this afternoon of a new life-sized statue of John "Buck" O'Neil at the Baseball Hall of Fame is no small deal. Like many people, I was infuriated that a special committee to elect Negro Leagues greats to the Baseball Hall of Fame had passed over O'Neil, who was merely the greatest spokesman the Negro Leagues have ever had. To think that certain sportscasters are in the Hall and Buck isn't made me see red -- even though I know Buck would've wanted me to turn the other cheek and laugh it off gently. While not a perfect way to get Buck into the Hall, the fast-tracking of the bronze meant that a lot of people on high felt the travesty as deeply as I did. And that counts for something.

But did you know that the bronze at Cooperstown was actually the second monument erected to O'Neil's memory. This is the first. It went up a few weeks ago at Kansas City's Forest Hill Cemetery, not far from the burial site of Satchel Paige, which also sports an impressive monument to another ageless Negro Leaguer.

I've been meaning to say something about Buck's monument at Forest Hill since visiting it earlier this month. Maybe it's just the old-school journalist in me, but I am embarrassed that the lettering on the gravestone has at least two obvious and needless typographical errors on it. As you will see below, one of the typos is Buck O'Neil's own name.

(The other typo concerns the proper placement of an apostrophe.)

Now, my guess is that 99.5 percent of people looking at that memorial will not even register that "O'Neal" is the spelling of Shaquille's name, not Buck's. But that doesn't make it any less egregious a mistake, not to mention really, really dumb. I can, and do, fix errors on this site all the time. But it's not made of granite. SI Memorials, which co-sponsored the site, should never have let something like this slip by them.

Even in death, Buck O'Neil is having trouble getting the respect he deserves.

Comments

[jb]

Totally heartbreaking. Something really needs to be done to fix it.

[Kenton]

This reminds me of the plaque given to honor James Earl Jones, which instead was engraved: "James Earl Ray."

Contrary to popular belief: typos still matter!

[jeff kisseloff]

doesn't shaq o'neal sometimes call himself Buck. Perhaps, instead of correcting it, someone can just sell the stone to Shaq?

[CapitalCat]

Wait until the Atlanta Braves decide to honor Hank Aaron Barnhart!