'Unhittable': Satchel Paige's legendary career

A version of this story was originally published in April of 2020

CLEVELAND -- Imagine being called one of the greatest pitchers to ever play the game by legends like Bob Feller, Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, but never throwing a pitch in Major League Baseball.

• Celebrating Jackie Robinson

The logic seems so simple today: If you’re among the best of the best, you rightfully earn your spot on one of 30 big league rosters. However, just over 70 years ago, that wasn’t so easy. Satchel Paige dominated the Negro Leagues for two decades, receiving attention for his velocity, command and fun personality. But it wasn’t until Jackie Robinson paved the way by breaking the color barrier in 1947 that Paige finally got his shot at the Majors.

While Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Indians were one of the first teams to show support of the movement, signing Larry Doby -- who was the first African American in the American League -- to a contract just two months later. And just a year after that, the Tribe inked Paige.

Paige had already hit his peak. He played for 10 teams across 19 seasons in the Negro Leagues, captivating audiences in every city he traveled to. He was known to give his pitches nicknames like “Tommy” for his fastball or “Long Tommy” for his fastest heater. He threw two no-hitters that were recorded, but it was estimated that he threw a total of 55 no-no’s throughout his career. Even if his best days were behind him, that didn’t prevent Indians owner Bill Veeck from signing Paige at age 42, making him the oldest rookie in MLB history.

“Everyone knew Paige was the greatest player in the Negro Leagues of the prior two decades,” Major League Baseball’s official historian John Thorn told MLB.com in 2016. “[Because of Paige’s age] that was a bold move, and Bill Veeck got more out of Paige than he could have imagined.”

Veeck was scrutinized for the move, as many wondered if it was a publicity stunt. But no matter what his intentions may have been, he received a stellar pitcher in return. Paige pitched in 21 games after he was signed in July and made seven starts. He owned a 2.48 ERA, struck out 43 hitters, allowed just two home runs and walked 22 batters in 72 2/3 innings to help lead the Indians to their second -- and most recent -- World Series championship in 1948.

“By the time he gets to the Major Leagues, he didn’t have the dominating fastball that he had while he was in the Negro Leagues,” president of the Negro League Baseball Museum Bob Kendrick said on MLB Network earlier this year. “I mean, the man had pitched an ungodly number of innings by that time. But he still had that pinpoint control. So yeah, in his prime, they clocked him at about 105 mph, but as I tell people all the time, what really made Satchel so special -- and you know 105 is pretty darn special -- but 105 with pinpoint control is virtually unhittable.”

Paige’s stint with the Tribe was short. He made 31 appearances (five starts) in 1949, posting a 3.04 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 83 innings in his final season with Cleveland. From ages 44-46, he pitched for the St. Louis Browns and became a two-time All-Star. He later returned at age 58 to throw three innings for the Kansas City Athletics in '65. And while so much attention was put on his age, he will forever live on in the history books alongside Doby as the first two African Americans to be a part of a World Series-winning ballclub.

Without Robinson, there is no Paige. Without Paige, who knows how the victorious 1948 season could have shaken out. Paige's time in the Majors was brief, but his baseball career was illustrious. In '71, Paige was elected into the Hall of Fame as the first electee of the Committee on Negro Baseball Leagues, and he once again captivated his audience with his playful personality, making jokes about his age and reflecting on his time in the game.

“Don’t ever look back,” Paige famously said at his induction ceremony, “something might be gaining on you.”