Satchel Paige

Satchel Paige. . , He wasn’t born in Kansas City, but in his heart, Satchel Paige called it home. As a pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs and six other teams, Satchel Paige was the nearest thing to a legend that ever came out of the Negro Leagues. His fastball and colorful personality turned him into a household name recognized by fans and non-fans alike., Even his name, “Satchel,” was the stuff of legends. As the story goes, at age 11, he carried bags at the train station in Mobile, Alabama, to earn money. He soon found that the more suitcases he carried, the better the tips. So the clever Paige invented a special harness for shouldering several bags at once. The other carriers said he looked like a walking satchel tree and the name stuck., Paige began his professional career in 1926, and signed with the Kansas City Monarchs in the late 1930s. As a Monarch, he developed a curve and his famous hesitation pitch to add to his “bee-ball,” “jump ball,” “trouble-ball,” and “long-ball” pitching repertoire. Paige led the team to four consecutive Negro American League pennants (1939-42) and a World Series victory over the Homestead Grays in 1942. In 1946, he helped pitch the Monarchs to their fifth pennant. When Paige was finally brought to the major leagues in 1948, he was the oldest rookie (age 42) ever to play major league baseball, a distinction that was carried on by manager, Charlie Finley, later in Paige’s career., Pitching briefly for the Kansas City A’s in the 1950s, Finley was reported to have given Paige his own rocking chair on which to rest between his stints on the mound. In 1971, Satchel Paige was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first player ever inducted from the Negro Leagues.