Satchel Paige
There were so many amazing players in the Negro Leagues, but it is fair to say that Satchel Paige stood alone. There was never anybody like him. He was part pitcher, part storyteller, part legend. In any list of American originals, he belongs with the likes of Mark Twain, Amelia Earhart, Prince, Harry Houdini and Marilyn Monroe.
Satchel Paige was born on July 7, that much seems sure. What year? Well, that gets a bit more complicated. On his grave marker at Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, it says he was born in 1906 but there were those who swore they saw him PLAY in 1906.
Paige himself never worried about that. As he might have said — the quote, like his birth year, is elusive — “Age is mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.”
Celebrate Satch!
On the left, San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler quotes Paige talking about his many pitches (“A bee ball. A screwball. A whipsy-dipsy do. A hurry-up ball. A nothin’ ball. …”) On the right, six-year-old Isaac explains why Satch called his favorite pitch a “Bee Ball.”
“Satchel Paige Said”
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Fenway Park organist performs the Baseball Project’s “Satchel Paige Said,” written by Scott McCaughey. The lyrics:
Satchel Paige said, "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you"
Satchel grew up in a shotgun shack, and he had a pile of shotguns, too
He carried so many bags on a pole that he looked just like a satchel treeSatchel Paige and the Brown Bambino**, that's an everlasting battery
And we don't look back, we don't carry on (In society)
And we don't sit still or we might rust
But at the same time, we don't run, and we don't look back
Satchel Paige said, "I could never be late, they could hardly start the game without me"
Satchel Paige didn't get riled up, though his stomach surely had the miseries***
So if you follow these few simple rules, you might have a long, productive run
Satchel pitched about a million games, no one ever did what he has done****
And we don't look back, we don't carry on (In society)
And we don't sit still or we might rust
But at the same time, we don't run, and we don't look back*****
*This is how he got the nickname “Satchel.” He carried around so many satchels when working as a porter at the train station that people kidded about him and called him a satchel tree, later calling him Satchel.
**The Brown Bambino was one of the many nicknames for the great catcher Josh Gibson.
***One of Satchel Paige’s rules for staying young was “If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.”
****Paige himself estimated he had roughly 2,000 wins, 250 shutouts and 50 no-hitters in his career. He said that he won 104 games in 1934 alone.
*****”Don’t look back,”Satchel famously said. “Something might be gaining on you.”