Royals legend Frank White was about 20, a freshly minted member of the new Royals Academy, when then-Cubs scout Buck O’Neil approached him for the first time. Some 40 years later, that meeting has led to White earning an annual award in O’Neil’s honor.
White and civic leader Randall Ferguson, Jr. were named this week as recipients of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum’s 2017 Buck O’Neil Legacy Award.
O’Neil and White found common ground outside the infield dirt of the complex Ewing Kauffman built in Florida. White had spent his summers in the 1950s and 60s with his grandparents in Mississippi, picking cotton and peanuts.