KANSAS CITY, Mo. - His baseball career spanned seven decades but his influence lives beyond his death.
It's why Kansas City is celebrating Buck O'Neil's birthday this weekend.
The famous Negro Leagues baseball player and manager would have turned 98 Friday.
O'Neil's birthday was November 13, 1911.
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum organized this weekend's events from collecting fan memories to a live concert to birthday cake.
O'Neil devoted the final decade of his life to chronicling the world of Black baseball through the museum.
Friends say everyone wanted to be around the player who was always happy.
"A couple of days before he died I'm in the hospital and we talked,” said O’Neil friend Jesse Rogers. “I told him to come on so we could go play some golf. He tried to smile but he knew nothing else could be done."
O'Neil was co-founder of Kansas City's Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
Organizers of the two-day birthday bash say O'Neil's wish would have been to collect more donations for the museum.
For more information, call the museum at (816) 221-1920.
