Stars of the Negro Baseball League - Digital Archive - Alexander Boeck

Satchel Paige’s real name is Leroy Robert Paige. He was born July 7, 1906. Satchel was a pitcher that played in both the Negro League and the MLB. He played in the Negro League from 1926-1947 and the MLB from 1948-1953 and again in 1965. He played for 5 teams while in the Negro League and three teams while in the MLB. He played most of his career for the Kansas City Monarchs. In 1924 Paige pitched a total of 30 games for the Mobile Tigers and only lost one game. When Paige was not part of a team, he and other players from the Negro League would travel around the country playing different types of exhibition games in hopes to getting some extra cash. During this time, he would refuse to play in cities that would not let the team stay in a hotel.

Satchel Paige started in 244 games and his record was 146 wins and 64 loses. Having that record meant that he had a winning percentage of .696%. During his career in both the Negro League and the MLB he managed to throw a total of 1928.1 innings. During the 1928.1 innings pitched he had 1620 strikeouts and 316 walks. He had a total of 40 shutouts combined when playing in the Negro League and in the MLB.

While Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in the MLB, Paige believed that he should have been the first black player in the league since he had opened major league stadiums to black individuals. The teams in the MLB believed that he was too old to be playing in the major leagues. Although he was not the first African American to join the MLB, he did become the first African American to pitch in the American League. When he was 42 the Cleveland Indians had signed him and made him the oldest rookie to start a MLB game.

In 1948 Paige helped the Cleveland Indians to their second World Series. Satchel is the oldest to pitch in an MLB game at the age of 59. He pitched three innings September 25, 1965 for the Kansas City A’s. He was Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971. He was the first player from the Negro League to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. --- (Baseball Hall of Fame, Satchel Paige)