Not elder law: 94 year old plays in All-Star game

John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil never got a freepass in life.

The grandson of a man brought to this continent as a slave,O’Neil moved to Kansas City to avoid racial persecutionin the Deep South and played baseball during an era of segregation.

It figures that on Tuesday night, when the 94-year-old stepsinto the batter’s box during a minor league all-stargame, nobody will quibble over an intentional walk.

Except maybe O’Neil.

“I just might take a swing at one,” he said beforeTuesday night’s Northern League event.

The Kansas City T-Bones signed O’Neil to a one-daycontract, likely making him the oldest professional baseballplayer. He would surpass 83-year-old Jim Eriotes, who struckout in a minor league game in South Dakota earlier thismonth, by more than a decade.

“I imagine the bat’s a little heavier than thatclub I’ve been swinging,” said O’Neil, whomaintains he can still shoot his age in golf.”It’s been a long time since I’ve picked up a bat.”

Nobody disputes that O’Neil’s involvement in thegame borders on a gimmick. But his supporters hope it alsoprovides a boost in their quest to get him into Cooperstown.

Read the rest at MLive.com.  Then find out what happened here.