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Full Name: Leroy Robert Paige
Born: July 7, 1906 Mobile, Alabama
Died: June 8, 1982 Kansas City, Missouri
Height: 6'3 1/2"
Weight: 180
Threw: Right
Position: Pitcher
Did You Know?
- He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1971.
- Satchel was over 40 years old the entire time he played in the majors.
- He earned his nickname, "Satchel," as a young boy, when he
took a job carrying bags (and satchels) at railroad stations
for passengers.
- Satchel started his career in 1924 when he had a tryout
with the Mobile Tigers, a semi-pro baseball team.
- He went on to become the dominant pitcher of the
Negro Leagues.
- When the Negro League wasn't playing in the winter, he would
go to the Caribbean leagues and pitch.
- He claimed that the more that he pitched, the stronger he got,
so he did not work out on his own.
- He started 29 games in one month in Bismarck, North Dakota.
- He claimed that he won 104 of the 105 games he pitched in 1934.
- He would face major league players annually by playing against
major league barnstorming teams.
- He was brought into the major leagues in 1948 by Bill Veeck
to play for Cleveland.
- He holds the record for being the oldest rookie in the Major
League.
- In his first year with Cleveland, he went 6-1 with one save
and a 2.48 ERA.
- He ended his six-year major league career with a 28-31 record
and a 3.29 ERA.
- Joe DiMaggio called him "the best and fastest pitcher
I've ever faced."
- He retired in 1953.
- He made a special appearance in 1965, pitching 3 innings for
the Kansas City Athletics.
- Pitching for the Kansas City Athletics made him the oldest
player in the Major Leagues.
- Paige did not commit a single error in 179 major league games.
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