John "Buck" O'Neil

About the Book

The summer of 1938 was a pivotal year for baseball and American history.  In that same year, John Jordon “Buck” O’Neil, was a rookie first baseman playing his first season in the Negro American League.  Born in Carrabelle, Florida, raised in Sarasota and nicknamed Buck, it had taken five years and five different teams before the Kansas City, Monarchs finally signed O’Neil to a contract.  Before he could get the starting assignment, though, O’Neil had to dethrone one of the Negro Leagues’ hardest hitting first basemen, Eldridge Mayweather.  In 1938, a time when African-American hall of fame ballplayers worth millions could be purchased for pennies on the dollar, times were hard and the baseball was tough.  Kansas City’s Monarchs were a blend of youth and maturity, and one of the best teams in the Negro American League.  Oddly, Kansas City, in spite of winning records against every team in the Negro American League, failed to win the first-half or second-half pennant. 

For the first time ever John “Buck” O’Neil, Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe and James “Gabby” Kemp and many others are united together to speak on this celebrated season.  With interviews from Monarchs’ Hall of Fame players Willard “Sonny” Brown and Hilton Smith, along with Monarchs' greats Newt Allen and Byron “Mex” Johnson and many others, readers are taken on a road trip around America.  Along the way readers, just as the team did in 1938, come in contact with segregation and racism as the book helps everyone to relive the glory days of the Negro Baseball Leagues while experiencing the hardships of life in America.  Illustrated with over forty historic photographs, John "Buck" O'Neil, the rookie, the man, the lagacy  1938 is a welcome addition to every baseball fans reading list.

About the Author

Phil S. Dixon is widely regarded as one of America’s foremost experts on baseball history.  He has authored four previous books on the Negro Baseball leagues; The Ultimate Kansas City Baseball Trivia Quiz Book (Bon A Tirer Publishing), The Negro Baseball Leagues a Photographic History, 1867-1955 (Amereon House), The Monarchs 1920-1938 Featuring Wilber “Bullet” Rogan The Greatest Ballplayer in Cooperstown (Mariah Press) and Phil Dixon’s American Baseball Chronicles, Vol. III, The 1905 Philadelphia Giants.  He has won the prestigious Casey Award for the Best Baseball Book of 1992, and a SABR MacMillan Award for his excellence in baseball research. 

A knowledgeable and entertaining speaker, Dixon lectures regularly to colleges, High schools, community groups and is routinely quoted in print and broadcast media.  Formerly in the Public Relations Department of the Kansas City Royals, Dixon is a founder and member of the Board of Governors for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.  He remains relentless in his pursuit of equality for African-American athletes in baseball and sports in general.