Satchel Paige

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert “Satchel” Page was born on July 7, 1906 in Mobile, Alabama to John and Lula Page. He was born in what he calls a “shotgun shack’, meaning if someone were to shoot through the front door it would go straight through the house and out the back door.” Leroy was the seventh out of the eleven children his parents had. Their last name was originally spelled “Page”, but his mother decided that adding the letter “I” to the family name would hold it to high standards. Lula Paige sent Satchel to work at an early age. His first job was to carry luggage for businessmen that were at the train station and that was his way of earning money. He wasn’t very fond of the job because of the little amount of money he was paid in return

Paige started his professional career in 1926 by joining the Negro Southern League. He had a really good record with the Chattanooga Black Barons. It caught a lot of people’s attention and helped him to move very quickly through lots of ranks of the Negro National League teams, and also made him a popular player among many audiences. Satchel Paige played for teams all over this world. California to Maryland to North Dakota, even outside of those borders in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and even Mexico. Whenever Mr. Paige was between contracts, he earned money by participating in games against other professional players with talents as great as his. In one of those exhibitions that he participated in, he got hired to start a team called the “Satchel Paige All-Stars” and he got a chance to pitch to the New York Yankees Joe DiMaggio who called Paige “the best and fastest pitcher he’d ever had to

According to some statisticians, Satchel accomplished 31 wins against only four losses in 1933, and also had streaks of 64 consecutive scoreless innings and led his teams to 21 straight victories. He also kept his own records for his own benefit and he reported that he pitched in more than 2,500 games and won at least 200. He also played for 250 teams and threw 200 shutouts (A pitcher pitching an entire game and not allowing the opposing team to score a homerun). Those are staggering numbers when you compare them to people who were pitchers in the Major League. Satchel Paige’s dream came true in 1948. Jackie Robinson and the Cleveland Indians broke the league’s color barrier. The Indians team needed an extra pitcher and they decided to give Satchel a chance. It was reported that the owner, Bill Veeck put a cigarette on the ground and told Satchel to think of it as home plate. He threw five baseballs, and only one of them didn’t sail directly over the