COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Every Hall of Famer has a story of how they got to the hall. But not many can match the incredible journeys of Buck O'Neil and Minnie Minoso, two baseball pioneers whose long roads finally reached the most exalted place in the game on Sunday -- the hallowed Plaque Gallery of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
That neither legend was alive to experience such an honor was certainly bittersweet -- a word thrown around a lot in Cooperstown over the last few days. Yet because O'Neil and Minoso were known as much for their grace and spirit of generosity as for their immense achievements in the game, it turned out that there was more sweet than bitter.