Satchel Paige
| Satchel Paige | |
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| Pitcher | |
| Born: July 7th, 1906 Mobile , United States 
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| Died on: June 8, 1982 Kansas City , United States
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| Suggested: Right | Threw: Right |
| Debut in Major League Baseball | |
| July 9, 1948 with the Cleveland Indians | |
| Last MLB assignment | |
| September 25, 1965 in the Kansas City Athletics | |
| MLB statistics (until end of career) |
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| Win - Loss | 28-31 |
| Earned Run Average | 3.29 |
| Strikeouts | 288 |
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| Awards | |
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| member of | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame
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| Recorded | 1971 |
| Quota | Negro League Committee |
Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (born July 7, 1906 in Mobile , Alabama , † June 8, 1982 in Kansas City , Kansas ) was an American baseball player of the Cleveland Indians , the St. Louis Browns and the Kansas City Athletics in the Major League Baseball (MLB) in the pitcher's position . He is known for his extraordinarily long and eventful professional career, in which he was excluded from the US professional leagues due to segregation as a black. Instead, he played in the Negro Leagues and in South America until he was finally allowed to make his MLB debut at the age of 42 and won the 1948 World Series with the Indians . Despite the relative absence of MLB awards, Paige was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame , considered one of the best players in baseball history and a symbol of stoic composure against racism .
Segregated years
Paige lived in an age when segregation still prevailed in the US , especially in southern states like Alabama . He established himself in various Negro Leagues from a young age and made the leap to Cuba as a teenager and later joined the Negro National League , the (poorly paid, but high-quality) US professional league for blacks. There Paige established himself as the best NNL pitcher and possibly the best pitcher in the United States. When the young Joe DiMaggio faced Paige once and recorded a hit in four rounds, the later New York Yankees legend was enthusiastic: "I had scored a hit against Paige and now knew that I could do it." Later Paige threw another in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico. During the Second World War (where blacks were not accepted as soldiers for a long time) Paige got involved to raise money for charitable causes. He was 42 years old when Jackie Robinson became the first black man in MLB. A little later Paige followed him.
MLB years
Two days after his 42nd birthday, Paige made his debut for the Cleveland Indians in 1948 . Since Paige had never pitched in the MLB, he had certain throwing techniques (some of which were later prohibited) that had never been seen before and, according to a sports journalist, "were not illegal, but also not completely legal". Paige established himself as a reliable reserve pitcher: he won six of his seven games, had an outstanding earned run average of 2.48 and was even under discussion for the MLB Rookie of the Year Award (best newcomer), even though the league is one of them "Baseball grandpa" would have ridiculed. The Indians made the World Series , and Paige won the championship with Cleveland. After the year 1949 was rather disappointing, he moved to the St. Louis Browns .
With the weak Browns, Paige was the only bright spot. The under-par teammates made for the strange phenomenon that Paige won 15 of his 29 games in two years, but the Browns still lost over 200 of their 280 games. Paige made it to the All-Star Team twice and was one of the first blacks after Jackie Robinson to be so rewarded. Paige retired from MLB at the age of 47, but returned for a game in the Kansas City Athletics in 1965 . At the biblical age of 58 Paige threw another game, did not allow points to be won over four innings, was substituted and the 9,000 spectators said goodbye with standing ovations.
In recognition of his life's work, Paige was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. Until then, the HoF was a place populated purely by whites, because until 1948 no blacks were allowed to play in the MLB. To rectify this historic injustice, the MLB instructed the Negro League Committee (i.e., Committee of the Negro Leagues of the United States) to select the four players in the Negro Leagues. They should be introduced without having to face a choice. Paige was one of the four with Josh Gibson , Buck Leonard and Monte Irvin .
Private life
Paige was born Leroy Robert Page in the early 20th century . His exact date of birth is controversial because there is no official birth certificate, but only an entry from a census . When his mother got divorced, she changed her family name to Paige . He got his nickname "Satchel" (dt .: the bag) because he was caught stealing as a teenager in the slums of Mobile . As a rehabilitation measure, he was sent to baseball, where his talent was quickly recognized. In 1934 Paige married his childhood sweetheart Janet Howard. They had four children.
Because Paige played in lower-class leagues for so long, he always lived on the poverty line despite outstanding athletic achievements. Even as a player in the MLB, that hardly changed, since as a black and very old player he only got a low salary.
In 1959 he took on a supporting role in the western Heisse Frontier (The Wonderful Country) on the side of Robert Mitchum .
Philosophy of life
Although he was considered one of the best throwers in the world, Paige was only allowed to play in the MLB as an African American at the age of 42. But he refused to let himself be destroyed by the missed opportunities and was considered an outspoken stoic. His favorite quote was: "Never look back - you could get sick." ("And don't look back - something might be gaining on you.")
Web links
- Player information and statistics from Baseball Reference or Fangraphs or Baseball Reference (Minor League) (English)
- Official Website of Satchel Paige (English)
- Satchel Paige in the Baseball Hall of Fame (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ "Famous Monarchs Play Copper Sox Tonight" Montana Standard, Butte, Montana, Saturday Morning, July 1, 1939, Page 8, Columns 1 and 3
- ↑ "Satchel Paige to Take Slab Monday Against Ogden Club" Ogden Standard-Examiner, Ogden UT, August 18, 1940, Page 7, Columns 1, 2, 4, and 5
- ↑ This is what leagues were called in times of segregation, in which only African Americans were allowed to play.
| personal data | |
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| SURNAME | Paige, satchel |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Paige, Leroy Robert (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American baseball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 7, 1906 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mobile , Alabama |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 8, 1982 |
| Place of death | Kansas City , Kansas |