Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America
    Unavailable
    The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America
    Unavailable
    The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America
    Ebook314 pages4 hours

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

    By Joe Posnanski

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead

    About this ebook

    From the author of Baseball 100

    “A fascinating account of a man who outlasted the ignorance of a nation and persevered to become a beloved figure...One of the best baseball books in years, filled with depth style and clarity." —Cleveland Plain Dealer

    An award-winning sports columnist and a baseball legend tour the country to recapture the joys and wonders of two of America’s greatest pastimes

    When legendary Negro League player Buck O’Neil asked sports columnist Joe Posnanski how he fell in love with baseball, that simple question eventually led the pair on a cross-country quest to recapture the love that first drew them to the game. Baseball & Jazz recounts their emotional quest to find the heart of America’s beloved sport that still beats despite the scandal-ridden, steroid-shooting, money hungry athletes who currently seem to define the sport. At its heart is the story of 94-year-old Buck O’Neil—a man that truly played for the love of the game. After an impressive career in the Negro Baseball Leagues in which he earned two hitting titles and one championship, O’Neil made baseball history by becoming the first African-American coach in major league baseball. Posnanski writes about that love and the one thing that O’Neil cherishes almost as much as baseball: jazz. This heartwarming and insightful journey is an endearing step back in time to the days when the crack of a bat and the smokey notes of a midnight jam session were the sounds that brought the most joy to a man’s heart.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061752575
    Author

    Joe Posnanski

    Joe Posnanski is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including The Baseball 100, Paterno, and The Secret of Golf. He has written for The Athletic, Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports, and The Kansas City Star and currently writes at JoePosnanski.com. He has been named National Sportswriter of the Year by five different organizations and is the winner of two Emmy Awards. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his family.

    Read more from Joe Posnanski

    Related to The Soul of Baseball

    Related ebooks

    Sports Biographies For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Super Scout

      Dec 2, 2021

      Super Scout
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Cobra

      Jan 21, 2022

      The Cobra
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Book Of Bates

      Apr 5, 2021

      IT’S A FREEZING Tuesday afternoon in mid-February and a snowstorm has blanketed a good portion of southeast Michigan. So much so that hundreds of schools in the region have canceled classes. Yet, in the southeast outskirts of Ann Arbor, right off US

      8 min read

    • Article

      Top 100 Prospects

      Mar 7, 2023

      Top 100 Prospects
      28 min read

    • Article

      Back In The Saddle

      Feb 2, 2022

      Back In The Saddle
      12 min read

    • Article

      Something To Prove

      Mar 8, 2022

      Something To Prove
      2 min read

    • Article

      $400,000 + Card Discovered In Metal Box

      Apr 10, 2020

      Ben Foster wasn’t expecting a Christmas present of this magnitude. What the Raleigh, N.C., man discovered will be hailed as another famous “find” in the history of baseball card collecting. Foster grew up collecting Pokémon cards. His dad, Hayes, alw

      6 min read

    • Article

      Atlanta Braves Top 10 Prospects

      Nov 3, 2021

      AGE: 21. B-T: L-L. HT: 6-0. WT: 195. DRAFTED: HS—Stockbridge, Ga., 2019 (3rd rd). SIGNED BY: Kirk Fredriksson. TRACK RECORD: Most of the amateur scouting industry seemed to prefer Harris as a lefthanded pitcher out of high school in 2019. He touched

      9 min read

    • Article

      Three-for-all!

      Mar 8, 2022

      Three-for-all!
      27 min read

    • Article

      Minor League All-star Team

      Oct 13, 2021

      Minor League All-star Team
      4 min read

    • Article

      Best of 2019 BASEBALL BOOKS

      Nov 22, 2019

      Best of 2019 BASEBALL BOOKS
      10 min read

    • Article

      Collecting Hall Of Fame Rookies

      Aug 7, 2021

      Collecting Hall Of Fame Rookies
      6 min read

    • Article

      Organization Reports

      May 9, 2023

      Organization Reports
      33 min read

    • Article

      Actions Speak Loudest

      Feb 13, 2023

      Actions Speak Loudest
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Sixth Man

      Sep 28, 2021

      MY HEART HURTS EVERY time I think about Terrence Clarke. I didn’t know him personally beyond a couple text message exchanges, but a bunch of the SLAM staff did, and I can say unequivocally that everyone loved him. He had an energy that uplifted every

      2 min read

    • Article

      A Q&A with Mike Schmidt:

      Jan 17, 2020

      Fan: Mike, even though you’re one of the Top 10 players in baseball history, I think you were underappreciated in Philadelphia, probably because you made it look so easy. I know it wasn’t easy and that you worked hard. Is that how you see it? Schmidt

      4 min read

    • Article

      Organization Reports

      Feb 3, 2021

      Organization Reports
      18 min read

    • Article

      Football, Bloody Hell

      Jan 11, 2024

      Football, Bloody Hell
      23 min read

    • Article

      Summer Camp 1968

      Jul 15, 2020

      Summer Camp 1968
      9 min read

    • Article

      Pin Boy

      May 31, 2022

      Pin Boy
      3 min read

    • Article

      Dylan At 80

      Apr 15, 2021

      Dylan At 80
      27 min read

    Reviews for The Soul of Baseball

    4.5/5

    9 ratings5 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Even if you don't know a baseball from a basketball and care even less about the distinction, this book is well worth the read. Buck O'Neil was an inspiration to people of all colors, shapes and sizes and proof that while age might slow you down physically, it is not an obstacle for the soul. He was fighting for what he believed at ninety-four, and his efforts to keep the history of the Negro Leagues and its amazing players alive, vibrant and relevant are still paying off and will continue to do so.O'Neil's stories, as told to Joe Posnanski, are alternately touching, reflective, and laugh out loud funny. But really touched me was O'Neil's quiet dignity. He wasn't about to forget the injustices done to African-American players before and for some time after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, but he wasn't going to let bitterness and rancor swallow him, either. O'Neil was adamant in viewing people as, well, people: shades of good and bad in every single one of us. He wouldn't get drawn into condemning others, whether it was exploitative baseball owners of old or steroid-using baseball players of today. I only wish I could have been one of those people who lined up to shake his hand at baseball events before he died, just before his ninety-fifth birthday.Joe Posnanski's words are a wonderful tribute to O'Neil, and he's a terrific story spinner in his own right. The book is immensely enjoyable to read. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      This is one of the best books I've read. Buck O'Neil was/is a true inspiration. What a marvelous man he was. In addition to wonderful tales of the Negro Leagues, this book really is about Buck himself. What he lived through, how he faced life. A tremendous character. I deeply regret not having made it to the Negro Leagues Museum before he passed away. We truly lost something precious when he passed. Highly recommended regardless of whether you're a baseball fan. If we all lived life as Buck did the world would be a better place.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      A book to be read slowly and cherished. I didn't know anything about Buck O'Neil before I started this book - I picked it up because I recently became a fan of Joe Posnanski's blog. But the story of this man and how he lived life is a real treat.
    • 5/5
      Amazing story filled with anecdotes about an incredible individual who believed in baseball, but even more so, believed in goodness and light. Buck O'Neil is the type of person that makes a lasting impact.