Earlier this month, a friend forwarded an Internet recap of the day the Atlanta Braves signed Satchel Paige to a contract which enabled him to receive a Big-League pension.
At the time, he needed 158 days to qualify for his pension. He contacted 29 Major League teams, but nobody responded because he was 62 years old. He was something of a remarkable anomaly when he helped the Cleveland Indians at age 42 to the 1948 American League pennant. Cleveland won the World Series over the Braves who were still in Boston. Satchel got a World Series ring and much-deserved respect and subsequently was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame.
It would be the Braves, led by owner Bill Bartholomay, who signed a contract with Satchel, to enable him to better enjoy retirement. “I jumped all over that,” Bartholomay said. “I didn’t think of it so much from the standpoint of diversity, I thought it was the right thing to do.”
Those who knew Satchel’s story best, say that he was as good as he was colorful. That he was a legendary character has always been part of his history, but he obviously had a stunning and rare ability to pitch a baseball. He won both games of a doubleheader in his prime years, starting one and taking over long relief in the second game. He never experienced arm trouble after a near lifetime of pitching.
In early 1980, I drove from Kansas City to St. Louis, where I had arranged to have lunch with Cardinal great, Stan Musial. Joining us was a well-known minor league owner, A. Ray Smith, who owned the Springfield, Illinois, Redbirds. A. Ray told me that Satchel was a member of his staff. He made Satchel a vice-president. He also wanted him to talk pitching with his young pitchers and to sign autographs for the fans.
The jovial owner extended an invitation to come spend some time with Satchel. I immediately made arrangements to find my way to Springfield and spent a day and a half with Satchel.
Fortunately, I recorded a long conversation with him about his life and career. He was charming and informative. It came through loud and clear that baseball was his life, and he enjoyed the game as much as any man whoever played the sport.
Satchel said he often used matchbooks, cigarette packs and matchsticks as home plate to practice. “That’s where I learned my control,” Satchel said. He spent most of the daylight hours at the ballpark. When he went into the clubhouse, the “betcha you can’t do this” games continued. One was to balance a baseball on an empty Coca-Cola bottle. They bet Satchel he couldn’t knock the baseball off the bottle by hitting only the ball. If he hit the bottle, he would lose the bet.
Evidence that confirmed the Negro League competition was as legitimate as the major leagues was when the Dodgers signed Jackie Robsinson. While Satchel was a friend and admirer of Robinson, he noted that Jackie was not a regular. “Jackie was on the bench when the majors took him.”
Satchel was renowned for his fast ball, which is why he didn’t want any controversy by knocking batters down. The beanball was prevalent when he came up as a rookie at age 42 but he never hit any player. “That’s no way to be a champion pitcher, knocking your good batters out. They wasn’t throwing at Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio. They was hitting the mediocre players.”
Ray Smiht amused Satchel when he told the legendary story that on occasion, with his fastball being unhittable, Satchel told his infielders to sit down while he struck out the side. Satchel, with a wide smile and a slight nod, confirmed the story was correct.
His reaction to the question of whether he had any regrets that he did not get to play in the Big Leagues in his prime, was that he was pleased that “they chose Jackie instead of me.” His good nature would not have allowed hm to take the abuse that Robinson endured.
He had an interesting take on his life with regard to his being denied a Major League opportunity. “I played against a lot of Big League players, and I had a good idea how I could do against them, but think about this, I played all over the country. I’ve seen more of the United States than anybody, and I wouldn’t take anything for that. I had a wonderful experience. We used to go out early in the morning and kill game for breakfast. We didn’t have a lot, but we really had fun.
“We had those Coleman stoves, and we would fry quail and other game, and I wouldn’t take anything for the experiences I had,” he said. He then admitted that there was a lot of ‘roughing it,’ and a lot of mean spirited types who would hurl bad and derogatory insults to black players.
His parting shot was, “I wouldn’t take anything for it, and if I had an opportunity to do it over again, I would jump at the opportunity.”
Satchel’s humility was as rare as his fastball.