Satchel PaigeNo one pitched like Leroy "Satchel" Paige. Fans packed the stands to see how many batters he could strike out in one game. He dazzled them with his unique pitching style, and he even gave nicknames to some of his trademark pitches -- there was the "hesitation," his magic slow ball, and the "bee ball," named because it would always "be" where he wanted it to be.
Together, we'll read about Satch's career as he begins playing in the semipros and goes on to become the first African American to pitch in a major League World Series, and the first Negro Leaguer to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. |
Who Was Satchel Paige?Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was born around July 7, 1906, in Mobile, Alabama, and honed his pitching talents in reform school. He began his professional baseball career in the Negro Leagues in 1926 and became its most famous showman. Paige finally broke through to the Majors as a 42-year-old rookie, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. He died on June 8, 1982.
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The Negro LeagueFrom the early 1900s, black players were entirely shut out of white professional baseball until 1946 and the end of World War II when Jackie Robinson broke the 'color line' becoming the first African American to play in the major leagues.
Black players played on black teams that represented black communities. The teams were organized into black leagues, and competed for championships. In 1920, Rube Foster founded the Negro National League in Kansas City, Kansas. IThe Eastern Colored League was founded in 1923. In 1937 the Negro American League was formed. Through the years, Negro league players endured segregated, second-rate wages and playing conditions even though their competition and play was equal if not better that their white counterparts. |
All-American Women's LeagueBy the fall of 1942, many minor league teams had to disband because of World War II. Young men, 18 years of age and over, were being drafted. Philip K. Wrigley, owner of Chicago Cubs, was worried that the baseball industry would lose money and decided to search for a possible solution to this dilemma. Wrigley asked Ken Sells, assistant to the Chicago Cubs' General Manager to head a committee to come up with ideas. The committee recommended a girls' softball league was created, which was later changed to a baseball league. Teams were made up of fifteen players, a manager (coach), a business manager, and a woman chaperone.
The league started with four teams in 1943 and ended with six teams in 1945. After the war was over, Junior Leagues were organized for girls ages 14 and older. The league operated until 1954 and gave over 600 women athletes the opportunity to play professional baseball. |