Willie Mays describing when as a 17-year-old, he faced the 6’ 4”” Satchel Paige for the first time: “It was 1948. Satchel had a very, very good fastball... but he threw me a little breaking ball, just to see what I could do, and I hit it off the top of the fence. I got a double. When I got to second, Satchel told the third baseman, 'Let me know when that little boy comes back up.' Three innings later, I go to kneel down in the on-deck circle, and I hear the third baseman say, 'There he is.' Satch looked at the third baseman, and then he looked at me.I walk halfway to home plate and he says, 'Little boy.' I say, 'Yes, sir?' because Satch was much older than I am, so I was trying to show respect. He walked halfway to home plate and said, 'Little boy, I'm not going to trick you. I'm going to throw you three fastballs and you're going to go sit down' and I'm saying in my mind, 'I DOOON'T THINK SOOO.' If he threw me three of the same pitch, I'm going to hit it somewhere. He threw me two fastballs and I just swung...I swung right through it.. and the third ball he threw, and I tell people this all the time, he threw the ball and as he let go he said, 'Go sit down.' This is while the ball was in the air. Yes, he struck me out with three pitches. He was just magnificent."

Today In History

Leroy “Satchel” Paige, baseball legend, was named all-time outstanding player by the National Baseball Congress on this date January 30, 1965.

Satchel was a legend in both the Negro League and Major League Baseball. He was the first player from the Negro League to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

Leroy “Satchel” Paige, maybe the greatest pitcher baseball ever knew, lives on in the stories of the men who hit – or tried to hit – a man who was still a star long after most players had left the limelight.

CARTER™️ Magazine

A colourized photo of Satchel Paige (African American baseball legend) along with two paintings of Satchel. One by Rob Stark and the second by Kadir Nelson.

On February 9, 1971, pitcher Leroy “Satchel” Paige became the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hank Aaron and Satchel Paige ⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾

Satchel Paige, joueur de baseball - Harlem - New York City - Etats-Unis - 1941

Satchel Paige visits the Astrodome

On February 7, 1965 Some two months before the Astrodome’s grand opening in 1965, Satchel Paige was in town to coach a basketball team in a game versus the Harlem Globetrotters. Aware of his visit, Houston management contacted Paige on the morning of February 7 and asked the spry 58-year-old if he would come down and throw a few pitches off the mound. Eager to see the newfangled ballpark, Satch agreed and arrived sometime before noon.

Though publicity photos were taken (thus the Astros jersey), only a few people were on hand to see baseball’s ageless wonder take the mound. (Can you imagine what if must’ve been like to watch as perhaps the greatest pitcher of all-time strode onto the field?)

After a few soft tosses, Paige—still loosening up—threw a decent looking curveball that did indeed break. Not satisfied, the soon-to-be senior citizen snapped off a sharp breaking pitch that a moundsman half his age would envy. After unleashing several more impressive benders, Satch called it a day. He had proven two things: a baseball can curve indoors and that his famous maxim—”Age is a question of mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter”—wasn’t just talk.

Satchel Paige by Sanford Greene

Paintings by Tim Kerr

Leroy “Satchel” Paige was born on this day in 1907 in Mobile, Ala.

🤎 'Satchel Paige 1941' by acrylic artist Bernie Hubert. Satchel was with the New York Black Yankees in 1941.