By BEN WALKER
AP Baseball Writer
Buck O'Neil, a champion of Black ballplayers during a monumental, eight-decade career on and off the field, has joined Gil Hodges, Minnie Minoso and three others in being elected to the baseball Hall of Fame.
Former Minnesota Twins teammates Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat also were chosen along with Bud Fowler by a pair of veterans committees.
Longtime slugger Dick Allen, who died last December, fell one vote shy of election.
The six newcomers will be enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y., next July along with any new members elected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. David Ortiz, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez are on that ballot.