Satchel Paige

Post-playing career

Late in 1960 Paige began collaborating with writer David Lipman on his autobiography, which was to be published by Doubleday in April 1962. It was so successful that Doubleday issued three printings.

Related Topics:
1960 - David Lipman - Doubleday - 1962

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the age of 56, in 1961 Paige signed on with the Triple-A Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League, pitching twenty-five innings, striking out 19 and giving up just 18 earned runs. He failed to record a single decision in his stint with the Beavers.

Related Topics:
1961 - Portland Beavers - Pacific Coast League

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1965, Kansas City Athletics owner Charles O. Finley signed Paige, 59 at the time, for one game. On September 25, against the Boston Red Sox, Finley invited several Negro League veterans including Cool Papa Bell to be introduced before the game. Paige was in the bullpen, sitting on a rocking chair, being served coffee by a ?nurse? between innings. He started the game by getting Jim Grosger out on a pop foul. The next man, Dalton Jones, reached first and went to second on an infield error, but was thrown out trying to reach third on a pitch in the dirt. Carl Yastrzemski doubled and Tony Conigliaro hit a fly ball to end the inning. The next six batters went down in order, including a strikeout of Bill Monbouquette. In the fourth inning, Paige took the mound, to be removed according to plan by Haywood Sullivan. He walked off to a boisterous ovation despite the small crowd of 9,000. The lights dimmed and, led by the PA announcer, the fans lit matches and cigarette lighters while singing ?The Old Gray Mare.?

Related Topics:
1965 - Kansas City Athletics - Charles O. Finley - September 25 - Boston Red Sox - Jim Grosger - Dalton Jones - Carl Yastrzemski - Tony Conigliaro - Bill Monbouquette - Haywood Sullivan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1966, Paige pitched in his last game, getting some measure of revenge when he pitched for the Carolina League?s Peninsula Pilots of Hampton, Virginia, against the very same Greensboro Patriots who had been forced to release him before his first pitch back in 1955. Paige gave up two runs in the first, threw a scoreless second and then left, never to return as a player in organized baseball again.

Related Topics:
1966 - Carolina League - Peninsula Pilots - Hampton, Virginia - Greensboro Patriots - 1955

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also in 1966 Paige pitched for the semipro Anchorage Earthquakers, a team that barnstormed through Canada. In 1967 Paige appeared with the Globetrotters in Chicago and lowered himself to play with the Indianapolis Clowns for $1,000 a month.

Related Topics:
Anchorage Earthquakers - 1967 - Indianapolis Clowns

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1968 Paige assumed the position of deputy sheriff in Kansas City, with the understanding that he need not bother to actually come to work in the sheriff?s office. The purpose of the charade was to set up Paige with political credentials. Soon after, he was running for a Missouri state assembly seat with the support of the local Democratic club. Candidate Paige never gave a speech, and was never taken seriously. Paige lost the election in a landslide.

Related Topics:
1968 - Kansas City - Missouri - Democratic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In August of 1969, the owner of the Atlanta Braves, William Bartholomay, signed Paige to a contract running through the 1969 season – supposedly as a pitching coach, but actually to raise some fan interest in the club?s new hometown at the same time that he was meeting Paige?s pension requirements. Paige did most of his coaching from his living room in Kansas City.

Related Topics:
1969 - Atlanta Braves - William Bartholomay

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bowie Kuhn replaced Colonel Spike Eckert as the Commissioner of Baseball in 1969. In the wake of Ted Williams' 1966 Hall of Fame induction speech urging induction of Negro Leaguers, and on the recommendation of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Kuhn empowered a ten-man committee to sift through hundreds of names and nominate the first group of four Negro League players to go to the Hall of Fame. Because Paige pitched in Greensboro in 1966, he would not have been eligible for enshrinement until 1971, as players have to be out of professional baseball for at least five years before they can be elected. All of the men on the committee agreed that Paige had to be the first Negro league player to get elected, so this gave Kuhn plenty of time to create some sort of Negro league branch in the Hall of Fame. On February 9, 1971 Kuhn announced that Paige would be the first member of the Negro wing of the Hall of Fame. Because many in the press saw the suggestion of a "Negro wing" as separate-but-equal and blasted major league baseball for the idea, by the time that Paige?s induction came around on August 9, Kuhn convinced the owners and the private trust of the Hall of Fame that there should be no separate wing after all. It was decided that all who had been chosen and all who would be chosen would get their plaques in the ?regular? section of the Hall of Fame.

Related Topics:
Bowie Kuhn - Colonel Spike Eckert - Commissioner of Baseball - Hall of Fame - Baseball Writers Association of America - February 9 - 1971 - August 9

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On May 31, 1981, a made-for-television movie titled Don?t Look Back, starring Louis Gossett, Jr. as Paige and Beverly Todd as Lahoma aired. Paige was paid $10,000 for his story and technical advice. In the spring of 1981 Paige was made vice president of the Triple-A Springfield Redbirds of the American Association, but this was in title only. In August, with great difficulty because of health problems, he attended a reunion of Negro League players held in Ashland, Kentucky that paid special tribute to him and Cool Papa Bell. Attending the reunion were Willie Mays, Buck O?Neil, Buck Leonard, Monte Irvin, Judy Johnson, Chet Brewer, Gene Benson, Bob Feller and Happy Chandler.

Related Topics:
May 31 - 1981 - Louis Gossett, Jr. - Beverly Todd - 1981 - Springfield Redbirds - American Association - Ashland, Kentucky - Willie Mays - Buck O?Neil - Monte Irvin - Judy Johnson - Chet Brewer - Gene Benson - Happy Chandler

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During a power failure on June 8, 1982, Paige died of a heart attack at his home in Kansas City, a mere month before his 76th birthday. He is buried on Paige Island in the Forest Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Kansas City.

Related Topics:
June 8 - 1982 - Kansas City

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the popular comic strip, Get Fuzzy, Satchel Pooch, a warm and kind caring dog, is named after Satchel Paige.

Related Topics:
Get Fuzzy - Satchel Pooch

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~