Today In Black History: Satchel Paige
Negro League and Major League Pitcher and Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Issue #723 Today In Black History, Thursday, September 12, 2024
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Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige was born in Mobile, Alabama, on July 7, 1906. Paige's fastball and unique delivery became legend, and his career spanned five decades.
After his father’s death, his mother changed the spelling of their name from Page to Paige in the mid-1920s, just before Satchel's baseball career started. His mother said, "Page looked too much like a page in a book.”
According to Paige, his nickname originated from his childhood work of toting bags at the train station. He said he was not making enough money at a dime a bag, so he used a pole and rope to build a contraption that allowed him to cart up to four bags at once.
At a time when Major League Baseball (MLB) was segregated, Paige played for the Birmingham Black Barons, Pittsburgh Crawfords, and Kansas City Monarchs, among other teams in the Negro Leagues. He became one of the most celebrated players in the league.
In 1948, at the age of 42, Paige made history by becoming the oldest rookie to play in MLB when he signed with the Cleveland Indians. This was a breakthrough for Black athletes in professional baseball.
After the 1957 season, Paige went to the Mexican state of Durango to appear in a United Artists movie, The Wonderful Country, starring Robert Mitchum and Julie London. Paige played Sgt. Tobe Sutton, a hard-bitten cavalry sergeant of the Buffalo Soldiers.
Late in 1960, Paige began collaborating with writer David Lipman on his autobiography, published by Doubleday in April 1962 and ran to three printings.
Paige's legacy is punctuated with awe-inspiring performances and memorable quotes. Known for his showmanship on the field, he often toyed with hitters using his array of pitches, including his signature "Hesitation Pitch."
One of Paige's most famous quotes encapsulates his philosophy on life and baseball: "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you."
Satchel Paige was the first player from the Negro Leagues to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.
Paige died of a heart attack after a power failure at his home in Kansas City on June 8, 1982.
Today In Black History
In 1947, Jackie Robinson, the first Black baseball player in the major leagues, was named National League Rookie of the Year.
In 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, to integrate. The 101st Airborne Division escorted the nine Black students as they enrolled.
In 1992, Dr. Mae Jemison became the first African- woman in space when she launched from the Kennedy Center in the Space Shuttle Endeavor to join Spacelab J, a joint U.S.-Japanese mission.
In 2000, James Perkins, Jr. became the first Black mayor of Selma, Alabama.
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