The whole Hall of Fame snub bullshit was...well...bullshit too. It was beneath Buck to ever lash out or be upset about not being officially recognized for these types of things. He knew his place in baseball history and so did the people in Kansas City. He was one of the all time storytellers in sports. I love the one he told on the Jim Rome show a few years back about when Satchel Paige faced Josh Gibson for the first time.
While they were on the same team for years, they were at a rest stop during a road trip and Satchel says "You know Josh, I think you're the best hitter in the world, and I know I'm the best pitcher, one day we're gonna find out who really is the greatest."
And so Buck tells the story...
We playin in Pittsburgh, in the final game of the Negro League World Series and we get two outs in the 9th inning and we leading by two runs and Jerry Benjamin hit the ball down the 3rd base line and it was a triple. And Satchel said "Nasty(Buck's Nickname), hey come here let me tell you what I'm gonna do." I said "I know what you gonna do, you're gonna get this next guy out and lets go home, go back to the hotel. He said "NO, I'm gonna walk Howard Easterland, I'm gonna walk Buck Leonard, I'm gonna pitch to Gibson." I said "Oh man don't be facetious." He said that's what I'm gonna do." I said "Time." I was the captain of this team and I called Frank Duncan who was the Manager and I said "Skipper come out here and hear what this man is talkin about." And he got out there and I said "Satchel tell him just what you told me." Satchel told him and Frank looked around at the grandstands and we got 40,000 people in the ball park and he said, "You know what Buck? All these people came out here to see Satchel and Josh and what ever he wanna do you go ahead and let him do it." I said "Ok, it's your ballgame." He walked Easterland, he walked Buck Leonard, and there was Josh comin up with that big bat. And he said, "Now Josh remember when we was playin together and I said I thought you was the greatest hitter in the world and I was the best pitcher? Then now is the time." Josh Said, "Go on and throw the ball Satchel." Satchel said, "I'm gonna throw you some fastballs." Boom, throws him a 90 MPH fastball, strike one. "I'm not gonna trick ya I'm gonna throw you another fastball." Boom, another fastball just about belt high 95 MPH. He says "Now, I got two strikes on ya and no balls, I'm supposed to knock ya down, I'm supposed to move ya back, so I can hit that outside corner, but I'm not throw any smoke at ya yolk, I'm a throw a pea at ya knee." BOOM, 100 MPH fastball, Josh didn't even move his bat. And the side was out and the ballgame was over. Satchel is walkin off the diamond and I'm walkin on by him. And Satchel is 6'4", oh he's stretched out like he's 7 foot tall. He say, "you know what Nasty? No one hits Satchel's fastball." I said, "I guess you right Satchel."
Great story and a great man. He lived almost 95 years and people are just NOW recognizing his contributions to Baseball. Sad.
