Former Yankee great Dave Winfield arranged so part of the Major League Baseball amateur draft this weekend included old Negro League players who never made the majors — but should have — due to the color barrier. So guys like 103 year-old Millito Navarro (a Puerto Rican who played with Cool Papa Bell and Satchel Paige) got drafted by the Yankees. And 87 year-old Joe B. Scott got picked up by the Brewers.

Excellent idea, Dave.

“This is about letting them share,” Winfield said. “They’re on the fringes of the baseball family. Bring them in a little closer. Let them share in what the game has become. You have to build a platform and let people know that these guys are important. These guys were their heritage. Their connection to the sport is important. That’s what it’s about, why they’re still alive.

“The main thing is I’m happy that we’re doing something this year. You wait too long and there’d be nobody left. I think we have one chance to do something really good. It’ll be a great day.”

Winfield got the idea when Negro League player, coach, and statesman Buck O’Neill passed away, never having been honored by Cooperstown. “I kept thinking we should have done something for Buck,” Winfield said.

One of my big regrets in life was in 2006 when I was waiting for a Southwest Airlines flight in Kansas City, bound for Chicago. I saw an old black guy wearing a baseball cap and a Negro League Museum t-shirt sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting area. He was laughing and telling a story to the guy next to him. I heard his conversation partner say the name “Buck.” It was Buck O’Neill. I told my wife who he was. She told me I should find a way to sit next to him when we boarded. And when I walked onto the plane, the seat across the aisle from Buck was empty.

I smiled at him and kept walking. Stupid, stupid, stupid Jason. I’ve regretted it ever since.

Buck O’Neill died four months later, in October 2006.

Here’s a lesson, kids. Don’t pass those opportunities up. They won’t come again.

If you’re one of those people who has always wanted to ride your bicycle across the entire country, only you could never find a cause worthy enough…your search may finally be over.

Introducing the Ride:Well Tour:

The Ride:Well Tour is a bicycling expedition from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. to raise funds and awareness for Blood:Water Mission’s 1,000 Wells Project. The trip is open to anyone who is up for a challenge and desires to bring clean water to Africa.

The Bike Tour will start in L.A. in early June and and travel 3,150 miles to Washington, D.C. by the end of July. The cost is around $4000, so you might not want to spend that tax refund on that 1080p plasma after all.

You can get more info about the Ride:Well Tour here, more info on the Blood:Water Mission here, and you can apply for the ride here. (but hurry, there’s less than 12 hours left until registration is closed, and they’re only accepting 26 riders.)

UPDATE: according to this story, author Don Miller (Blue Like Jazz) will be one of the participants.