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Satchel Paige was cut from the most bad rear end American cloth there ever was. A pitcher, primarily in the segregated days of baseball, Satchel was such a draw, he'd be loaned to teams with struggling attendance to help boost ticket sales. While records from this era are shakey, it's estimated, that between his pitching in the Negro League, AND in "Barnstorming" games, where the white professionals played in the off season for cash (even the all stars), Paige tallied 1500 wins, 300 shut outs, and 55 no hitters. The records that are known for sure are: A consecutive streak of 64 scoreless innnings (over seven full games, this was the era before closers) A record of 31-4 posted in 1933 (If a pitcher goes 23 wins today the coach is estactic) A stretch of 21 STRAIGHT WINS. Again, this is a good SEASON for most pitchers. At the tender age of 42 he was finally allowed to enter the Majors, after impressing a Cleaveland pitching scout by throwing 4 of 5 balls over a lit cigarette laid on the ground 60 feet away. His carrear in the majors was nothing great, as he was 42, but he still helped Cleveland get to the world series in his first year. He was traded, traded again, and finally left baseball for a while, but in 1965 he was brought back one more time AT THE AGE OF 59 and pitched 3 scoreless ininngs for the Kansas City Athletics. He is BY FAR the oldest pitcher ever to start a game. Here are some fun quotes! "Ain't no man can avoid be born average, but there ain't no man got to be common." "Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines." "I never rush, see, they can't start the game without me." "I never threw an illegal pitch. The trouble is, once in a while I toss one that ain't never been seen by this generation." "I use my wind up, my double wind up, my triple wind up, my hesitation wind up, my no wind up. I also use my step 'n' pitch it, my submariner, my side armer, and my bat dodger. Man's got to do what he's got to do." Leroy "Satchel" Paige was Elected to the baseball hall of fame in 1971, and what he might have accomplished had he been allowed to join the majors before the age of 42, is left to speculation. hungryyaweh fucked around with this message at 21:28 on May 20, 2005 |
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May 20, 2005 20:13
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| # ¿ Apr 16, 2024 12:24 |
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