Joe DiMaggio called Satchel Paige,
"The best I ever faced, and the fastest."
Reports of Paige's legendary pitching skills were well earned. Paige often pulled in the outfielders and had them sit behind the mound as he struck out the side with the tying runner on base. Promoted as a guarantee to strike out the first nine batters, Paige usually lived up to the promise. Pitcher Dizzy Dean said,
“I know whose the best pitcher I ever see and it’s old Satchel Page, the big lanky colored boy. Say, old Diz
is pretty fast back in 1933 and 1934, and you know my fast ball looks like a change of pace alongside that
little pistol bullet old Satchel shoots up to the plate….It’s too bad those colored boys don’t play in the big
leagues, because they sure got some great players.”
Dean also said,
“If Old Satchel and I played together, we’d clinch the pennant mathematically by the Fourth of July and go
fishin’ until the World Series. Between us we’d win sixty games.”
Paige became the first black pitcher in major league baseball as a member of the 1948 Cleveland Indians. He won Rookie of the Year honors at age forty-two, earning himself the distinction of oldest major league player to win the designation. He was the first black player to pitch in a World Series. The oldest player to ever pitch in a major league game at fifty-nine, Paige allowed only one hit in three innings. In 1971, he become the first black player from Negro Leagues Baseball inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame.
Paige played with several Negro Major Leagues Teams: Chattanooga Black Lookouts (1926-1927), Birmingham Black Barons (1927-1930), Baltimore Black Sox (1930), Cleveland Cubs (1931), Pittsburgh Crawfords (1931-1937), Kansas City Monarchs (1935-1936, 1939-1948, 1950 and 1955), Santo Domingo (1937), Santo Domingo All-Stars (1937), Newark Eagles (1938), Mexican League (1938), Satchel Paige All-Stars (1939), New York Black Yankees (1943), Memphis Red Sox (1943), and Philadelphia Stars (1946 and 1950. Major League: Cleveland Indians (1948-1950), St. Louis Browns (1951 to 1953 and 1965), and Kansas City Athletics (1965), MLB All-Star Game (1952), Negro Leagues: Chicago American Giants (1951). Minor Leagues (1956-1958, 1961, and 1965-1966). Negro Leagues: Indianapolis Clowns (1967).
Inscribed on the memorial are the words:
PAIGE
He began work carrying suitcases at Mobile Union Station and devised a sling harness for hustling several bags
at once. The other Red Caps said he looked like a "Walking Satchel Tree". Thus Leroy became Satchel and
Satchel became legend.
HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1 Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood.
2 If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.
3 Keep the fluids flowing by jangling around gently as you move.
4 Go very light on the vices, such as caring on in society. The social ramble ain't stressful.
5 Avoid running at times.
6 Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.
PAIGE
Rose above humble beginnings of his native Mobile, Alabama childhood to become a national treasure and a universal sports hero. Among the most illustrious sports in the history of baseball. For 39 summers, and as many winters, he traveled endlessly throughout the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic thrilling millions with his extraordinary pitching feats to become the most celebrated moundsman in the history of our national past time. Everyone knew him as "Satchel" Paige, a legend in life and immortal in death.
He began a twenty-seven year career with the Kansas City Monarchs and made this his home. Three biggest moment sin his baseball career... Pitched a 5-0 shutout for Cleveland against Chicago in 1948: When he was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1971: He attended the dedication of Satchel Paige Stadium here just three days before he died.
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PICTURES:
First: Leroy Robert "Satchel Paige" courtesy of Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
Second and Third: Satchel Paige Headstone.
Color pictures taken April 30, 2013.
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SOURCES:
Books
Riley, James A. "The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues." New York: Carroll and Graf, 1994. Print.
Smith, Jessie Carney. "Black Firsts." Detroit: Gale Research, 1994. Print.
Internet
"Barnstorming Aces Satchel Paige and Dizzy Dean." HistoryNet.com, historynet.com/barnstorming-aces-satchel-paige-and-dizzy-dean.htm, Web. 26 Jul. 2015.
"Leroy 'Satchel' Paige." NegroLeagueBaseball.com, negroleaguebaseball.com/players/Paige.html, Web. 26, Jul. 2015.
"Negro League Legacy, Paige Turner - Paige was the greatest pitcher ever." MLB.com, mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/mlb_negro_leagues_profile.jsp?player=paige_satchel, Web. 20 Jul. 2015.
"Paige Never Looked Back." ESPN.com, espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016396.html, Web. 26 Jul. 2013.
"Paige Turner." MLB.com, mlb.com/mlb/history/mlb_negro_leagues_profile.jsp?player=paige_satchel, Web. 26 Jul. 2015.
"Satchel Paige." findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?GRid=1425&page=gr, Web. 15 Mar 2013.
"Satchel Paige", Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, coe.k-state.edu/annex/nlbemuseum/reslib/photoplayer.html,
Web. 4 Jul. 2015.
Movie
There was always Sun Shining Someplace. Dir. Craig Davidson. Refocus Films, 1984. Film.
Site Visit
Gravesite. Forest Hill Cemetery, 6901 Troost Avenue, Kansas City, MO. 30 Apr. 2013.
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INTERRED: Forest Hill Cemetery, 6901 Troost Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64131. Phone: 816-523-2114.
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SUBMITTED: July 27, 2015.
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