(1906?–82). Celebrated for the speed of his fastball and the control with which he pitched it, Satchel Paige played professional baseball for about 40 years. He was barred from the white major leagues during his best years. Instead he played for many teams in many leagues, and not all of his accomplishments are set down in the record books. Nonetheless, Paige was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.
Early life
Leroy Robert Paige was born in Mobile, Alabama, probably on July 7, 1906. His father was a gardener and his mother did laundry. His family was very large. As a youngster Leroy earned money by carrying bags for people at the local railroad station. This may be how he got the nickname Satchel. He was known by that name for the rest of his life.
When he was 12, Paige was caught stealing from a store and sent to a reform school. By the time he was released, more than five years later, he could throw a baseball with remarkable speed. At age 18, he first played for pay with a team called the Mobile Tigers. His long professional baseball career had begun.
Career
Paige's ability soon attracted attention and took him to the Negro leagues. He pitched for the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1931 to 1934. The Crawfords had many stars and were the best team in the Negro National League, where the level of play was extremely high. It was with the Crawfords that Paige enjoyed his greatest popularity, though he left the team several times when other opportunities arose. Paige played with many different teams in his career. Some of these teams did not play regular schedules but “barnstormed” from town to town, playing against local teams or all-star squads.
Paige's career was threatened in the winter of 1937–38, when he came down with arm trouble while playing winter baseball in Mexico. Still very popular with fans, he spent the next year with a barnstorming team, until his pitching ability came back to him. He joined the Kansas City Monarchs the following season and pitched his team to the Negro League world series championships every year from 1939 to 1942.
When Paige was pitching well, he had many different pitches and pitching motions. Hitters described his fastball as tiny because it was so hard for them to hit. He also had pinpoint control, boasting later that “I could nip frosting off a cake with my fastball.” He would sometimes promise to strike out the first nine men he faced, and very often he would accomplish this. He was also legendary for his daring stunts, such as calling in his fielders and then striking out the next three men he faced.
In 1947 Jackie Robinson became the first African American of the modern era to play for a white major-league team. In non-league games Paige already had struck out some of the best major-league hitters and outdueled some of the best major-league pitchers. His turn to join the major leagues finally came in 1948 with the Cleveland Indians.
Paige was then 42 years old. By that age, most pitchers were already retired. Paige showed no sign of age. He helped pitch the Indians to a world series championship.
Paige pitched for the Indians and the St. Louis Browns until 1953. While waiting to be called into St. Louis games, he sat on a rocking chair instead of the bench. It was his humorous way of calling attention to his advanced age.
It is difficult to sum up Paige's achievements because many records of Negro league games have been lost. Paige himself estimated that he pitched in 2,500 games. He could pitch in 125 games a year because he played winter baseball in Latin America after finishing the regular season in the United States. Unlike modern major-league pitchers, Paige did not rest three or four days between starts. He often pitched five days out of seven.
Paige probably pitched at least 250 shutouts and 45 no-hitters in his career. He won perhaps 2,000 games. Some were won against minor leaguers or part-time professionals. The numbers are still impressive, though, because they are several times larger than the highest totals achieved by white major leaguers.