Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who became a legend in his own lifetime by being known as perhaps the best pitcher in baseball history, by his longevity in the game, and by attracting record crowds wherever he pitched.
Paige was a right-handed pitcher, and at age 42 in 1948, he was the oldest major league rookie while playing for theCleveland Indians. He played with the St. Louis Browns until age 47, and represented them in the All-Star Game in 1952 and1953. He was the first player who had played in the Negro leagues to pitch in the World Series, in 1948, and was the first electee of the Committee on Negro Baseball Leagues to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in 1971.
Paige first played for the semi-professional Mobile Tigers from 1924 to 1926. He began his professional baseball career in 1926 with the Chattanooga Black Lookouts of the Negro Southern League and became one of the most famous and successful players from the Negro leagues. While his outstanding control as a pitcher first got him noticed, it was his infectious, cocky, enthusiastic personality and his love for the game that made him a star.[citation needed] On town tours across the United States, Paige would sometimes have his infielders sit down behind him and then routinely strike out the side.[4]He played his last professional game on June 21, 1966, for the Peninsula Grays of the Carolina LeagueOn September 25, 1965, the Kansas City Athletics start ageless wonder Satchel Paige in a game against the Boston Red Sox. The 59-year-old Paige, a Negro League legend, proved his greatness once again by giving up only one hit in his three innings of playKansas City Star, October 11, 1948, Page 16, Column 5]LeRoy “Satchel” Paige died of a heart attack on June 8, 1982, in Kansas City, Missouri. He is buried in Forest Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.
