Paige, "Satchel" (LeRoy R.)
Baseball
b. July 7, 1906, Mobile, AL
d. June 8, 1982
Possibly the greatest pitcher of all time and definitely one of the most colorful, Paige got his nickname because he had a job carrying satchels at the Mobile train station when he was only seven. He spent 5½ years in the Industrial School for Negro Children after stealing some small toys when he was twelve years old.
Paige learned to play baseball there and, after his release, he began pitching for a semi-pro team in 1924. Two years later, he signed with the professional Chattanooga Black Lookouts.
That was the beginning of an amazing career in which Paige won an estimated 2,000 games in 2,500 starts, with 250 shutouts and more than 40 no-hitters. He went to the Birmingham Black Barons in 1928 and to the Nashville Elite Giants in 1929, when he also began to play winter baseball in the Caribbean, pitching as many as 200 games a year.
In 1930, the Baltimore Black Sox hired him to pitch in a post-season exhibition series against a team of major leaguers led by Babe Ruth. Paige and Ruth never faced one another, but Paige struck out 22 in one of the games.
After the Elite Giants folded during the 1931 season, Paige joined the Pittsburgh Crawfords. When he didn't get the salary he wanted in 1934, he formed his own barnstorming team, the Satchel Paige All-Stars. The team's publicity poster said, "Satchel Paige, world's greatest pitcher, guaranteed to strike out the first nine men."
Paige returned to Pittsburgh in 1936, jumped to the Dominican Republic for a $30,000 offer, went back to Pittsburgh briefly, then went to the Mexican League. Strictly a fastball pitcher with exceptional control at this time, Paige came down with a sore arm in 1938 and it seemed his career might be over.
But the Kansas Monarchs hired him and he learned to throw breaking pitches. The arm finally came back into shape and he pitched Kansas City to five pennants in nine years, often working three or four games a week. He also developed his "hesitation pitch," in which he stopped his delivery for a split-second just as he seemed about to release the ball.
In the winter of 1947, Paige pitched against the barnstorming Bob Feller All-Stars. After he struck out 16 hitters, Feller told the Cleveland Indians they should sign Paige. They did, in July of 1948. He became the oldest rookie in baseball history at 42. Paige worked in 21 games, mostly in relief, and compiled a 6-1 record with 2 shutouts, 1 save, and a 2.48 ERA.
Someone suggested he should be rookie of the year. Paige later said, "I declined the position. I wasn't sure which year the gentleman had in mind."
He was released after a bad year in 1949, when he was bothered by stomach problems, and he began barnstorming again with the Chicago American Giants. He then spent three more seasons in the majors with the St. Louis Browns and was the AL's best relief pitcher in 1952, when he had a 12-10 record with 10 saves and a 3.07 ERA.
Released after the 1953 season, he went right back to barnstorming until 1965, when the Kansas City Athletics signed him to work in one game. The oldest player in major-league history at 59, he pitched three scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox, giving up just one hit.
After a brief stint with a minor-league in 1966, Paige retired. In 1968, the Atlanta Braves hired him as a coach so he could get the 158 days he needed to qualify for a pension.
During his brief major-league career, Paige had a 28-31 record with 4 shutouts, 32 saves, and a 3.29 ERA.