John Francis O'Neil (April 19, 1920 – April 18, 2012) was an American

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played briefly during the season. Listed at , 155 lb, he batted and threw right-handed. Born in

Shelbiana, Kentucky Shelbiana is an unincorporated community and coal town in Pike County, Kentucky, United States. It houses the CSX railroad yard (formerly Chessie System, C & O, B & O), the second-largest railroad yard in the state of Kentucky. Coal origin ...

, John O'Neil was involved in professional baseball for more than 45 years spanning 1939–1986 as player,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, player/manager,

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

and

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

, while participating in over 1,800

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

games. O'Neil assumed the name "Charles R. Johnson" as a

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

player at Pikeville Junior College in order to maintain his amateur status while playing minor league baseball. O'Neil appeared in 32 games for the 1946 Philadelphia Phillies as a replacement for everyday shortstop

Skeeter Newsome Lamar Ashby "Skeeter" Newsome (October 18, 1910 – August 31, 1989) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1935–1939), Boston Red Sox (1941–1945) and Philadelphia Phillies (1946–1947). ...

, being also used in pinch-hitting and pinch-running situations in 14 games. In a 46-game career, O'Neil posted a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .266 (25-for-94) with three doubles, driving in nine runs while

scoring SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

12 times without any

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

. From 1964 through 1984 he scouted for several major league teams, including the

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

teams and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. Two of the players he scouted and signed were

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

Mike Scioscia Michael Lorri Scioscia ( ; born November 27, 1958), nicknamed "Sosh" and "El Jefe" (Spanish for "The Boss"), is an American former Major League Baseball catcher and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He managed the Los A ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

Bill Robinson Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid black entertainer in the United States during the first half of the 20 ...

. O'Neil was honored by the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame at

Russell Diethrick Park Russell E. Diethrick, Jr. Park is a stadium in Jamestown, New York. It opened in 1941 and holds 3,000 people. Primarily used for baseball, Diethrick Park was home to teams in the New York–Penn League, a short season minor league baseball leagu ...

in the summer of 2011 with a white

Jamestown Falcons Jamestown may refer to Places Australia *Jamestown, South Australia Barbados *Holetown, Saint James, Barbados; sometimes called its founding name, Jamestown Canada * Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown, a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, common ...

uniform top with No. 1 on his back, similar to the uniform he wore back in the 1940s. It was during the 70th anniversary of the park, previously known as Municipal Stadium, and O'Neil, lone survivor of the 1941 Jamestown club, was honored by throwing out the inaugural first pitch. He later received honors as the oldest Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame Inductee at the organization's 31st annual induction dinner on February 20, 2012. Outside of baseball, he was an avid

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er and

fisherman A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...

with memberships at Chautauqua and Corry Hills golf clubs, and was also a member of Lakewood Rod and Gun Club. O'Neil died in

Jamestown, New York Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamesto ...

, one day short of reaching his 92nd birthday.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneil, John Major League Baseball shortstops Philadelphia Phillies players Minor league baseball managers Bristol Twins players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Elmira Pioneers players Greeneville Burley Cubs players Hollywood Stars players Jamestown Falcons players Jamestown Tigers players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Pittsfield Electrics players Portland Beavers players Salinas Packers players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Seattle Rainiers players Tallahassee Capitals players Winston-Salem Twins players Baseball players from Kentucky People from Pike County, Kentucky Atlanta Braves scouts Los Angeles Dodgers scouts Milwaukee Braves scouts 1920 births 2012 deaths University of Kentucky alumni University of Pikeville alumni 20th-century American sportsmen