Donations rise after news of O'Neil's health

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As news of Buck O'Neil's deteriorating health spreads, donations toward a building project honoring the life and times of the 94-year-old Negro Leagues ambassador have been on the rise.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City started a grass roots campaign in August to raise at least $1 million toward construction of the Buck O'Neil Education and Research Center. Organizers hope the target is met by Nov. 11, when a huge party is planned to mark O'Neil's 95th birthday.

Museum spokesman Bob Kendrick said about $100,000 has come in so far, with at least $65,000 coming in since Sept. 17, the day O'Neil was hospitalized for extreme fatigue. He remained hospitalized on Tuesday.

"There's been a sense of urgency," Kendrick said. "Hopefully, there's a way that Buck can still be there for that celebration. Heaven forbid, but if something were to happen between now and then we would still celebrate his life."

O'Neil, a former player-manager of the Kansas City Monarchs and the first black to serve as a major league coach, fell one vote short of admission into the Baseball Hall of Fame in February.

The Negro Leagues museum has been getting "a gazillion" phone calls from fans across the country worried about O'Neil, Kendrick said.

Many of them have been giving to the Education and Research Center, a $15 million museum expansion project that would include classrooms, a research library, a technology center, and more exhibit space for the museum. What isn't raised through private donations would be covered by state and federal help, organizers say.