Baseball's Injustice to Paige
Satchel's Great Career Was Over Before It Began
A portion of the American population couldn't to be employed by major league baseball teams because their skin contained too much of the pigment melanin.
In the land of the free and the home of the brave, a significant portion of the American population could not to be employed by major league baseball teams because their skin contained the wrong amount of the pigment melanin, which gives skin its color. For decades, some of the finest athletes in the world were not allowed to compete in the major leagues. Finally, in 1947, thanks to Brooklyn Dodgers' general manager Branch Rickey, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was allowed to work for a major league baseball team. American society owes generations of black citizens a debt IT can never repay
Paige Was Upset Rickey Didn't Select Him
Satchel Paige, a great Negro League pitcher, was upset that he was not chosen by Rickey but he and other Negro Leaguers realized that the goal was to foment change, which was something for which Robinson was well qualified. Paige said that "He’s the greatest colored player I’ve ever seen," but he later stated that "They said I was the greatest pitcher they ever saw…I couldn't understand why they couldn't give me no justice."
The American Public Accepts a Mythical Reality That Transcends Justice
Baseball is as much a part of America as apple pie. Nothing seemed amiss with the fact that blacks weren't allowed to be in the major leagues. The American public accepted a mythical reality that transcended justice. While individuals such as Satchel Paige expressed bitterness towards the inequities that existed, few Americans were concerned enough to take actions. They believed the obscene myths used to justify the existing situations in a manner similar to the ways Americans today accept what the media tell them as the truth.
Bill Veeck Signed Paige to a Contract With the Indians
Satchel Paige eventually reached the major leagues in 1948 with the Cleveland Indians, at what most believe was the age of forty two, although Paige claimed that he was only thirty nine. Indians' owner Bill Veeck was a showman and many thought his signing of Paige was merely a publicity stunt. A.G. Spink, the publisher of The Sporting News, long considered baseball's "bible," editorialized that "Veeck has gone too far in his quest for publicity....To sign a hurler at Paige's age is to demean the standards of baseball in the big circuits." Despite Spink's protestations, the fact remains that the Indians were involved in a tense pennant struggle with the Yankees and Red Sox and desperately needed pitching help.
A Forty Two Year Old Rookie
Paige made his major league debut on July 9, 1948, relieving Bob Lemon in a game against the St. Louis Browns. The forty two year old rookie pitched two scoreless innings in a 5-3 Indians defeat, but the big right-hander helped the Indians win the pennant. He appeared in 21 games, winning 6 and losing only 1 with a 2.48 ERA. Paige started 7 games, completed 3, and allowed only 61 hits in 72 2/3 innings.
Veeck Signed Paige Again
The Indians released Paige in the winter of 1950 but in July, 1951, the St. Louis Browns, run by the same Bill Veeck, signed him. Once again, it was because Paige could pitch. He was selected for the American League All-Star Game in both 1952 and 1953.
Paige Ranks With the Greatest Pitchers of All-Time
Paige might have been the greatest pitcher of all time. He certainly must be ranked with them. In a column written after Paige became an Indian, Arthur Daley relates how Dizzy Dean once offered the opinion that he and Paige could win sixty games between them in a season. Paige replied that Dean was being too modest. Joe DiMaggio, who could manage only a single in five games---that's GAMES, not at bats---against Paige, said that Paige was the fastest pitcher he had ever faced.
The Chance to Compete is a Right
How many great baseball players were denied the right to play in the major leagues? Yes, it is a RIGHT to have the chance to compete. Satchel Paige was among those against whom a crime was committed, and nothing can ever make up for that crime. Time can never be recaptured. But America is a great country and the American public forgives---especially itself. In 1971, Satchel Paige was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Negro Leagues Committee. What magnanimity. Now everything is fine.
References:
- Satchel Paige Biographical Information
- NPR Jackie Robinson Feature
- Satchel Paige at Baseball Library
- Rickey and Robinson
- Jackie Robinson Memories
- Satchel Paige Hall of Fame
- "Satchel Paige, Ace Negro Pitcher, Signed by Indians for Relief Role; Veteran, Who Admits to 39, Has Faced Many Big Leaguers in Exhibitions -- Once Beat Dizzy Dean, 1-0, in 13 Innings." New York Times, July 8, 1948. p. 26.
- "Indians Defeated by Browns, 5 to 3; Lemon Loses in Box and Paige, Negro Star, Hurls 2 Innings on Relief." New York Times, July 10, 1948. p. 10.
- Daley, Arthur. Sports of the Times. "Satch Finally Makes It. New York Times, July 8, 1948. p. 30.
