Satchel Paige at Yankee Stadium

In his four appearances at Yankee Stadium with the 1952 St. Louis Browns, Satchel Paige had a 2.55 ERA in 17 2/3 innings. (SABR-Rucker Archive)

 

Yankee Stadium is considered baseball’s biggest stage, a modern marvel of concrete and steel. The fashionable frieze that encircled the top of the exterior walls added regality and panache not seen in other stadiums. Yankee Stadium was expansive enough to host larger-than-life characters like Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, and George Steinbrenner, yet be intimate enough for an emotional send-off for the “luckiest man on the face of the earth.” The perpetual success of the New York Yankees between the 1920s and 1960s elevated Yankee Stadium to celebrity status in popular culture and became the place to be seen for fans and players, White and Black.

Yankee Stadium was also an important venue for Black baseball by showcasing elite Black baseball players to larger, mostly White crowds. In 1934 the Negro Leagues began hosting fundraising events, exhibition games, and the Negro League World Series games at the Stadium. Playing there gave credibility, prestige, and financial support to Black baseball players.1 With this new opportunity for Black baseball players in New York, baseball’s showman took advantage of baseball’s biggest stage.

Leroy “Satchel” Paige authored one of the most legendary careers in baseball history. He was born on July 7, 1906, and his journey from abject poverty in Mobile, Alabama, to Cooperstown, New York, is as improbable as it was mythical.2 Beginning in 1926, his professional career spanned four decades in which he traveled across the Americas, pitching for whichever team paid the most. Aside from the longevity of his career, Paige is most often remembered for his showmanship and iconic style. It paired well with his godlike precision and otherworldly speed that dominated professional baseball. Joe DiMaggio called him “the best and fastest pitcher I ever faced.”3

Paige commanded the attention of fans like no other player of his time. During his barnstorming games in the 1930s and 1940s, the reported attendance in games Paige pitched averaged 20,668.4 fans. In comparison, the average attendance in the same time frame for Yankees games was just 15,000.5 Fans were not the only admirers of Paige’s talent and success. It was reported that he singlehandedly grew Negro League ticket sales to 200,000 a season6 and as such grew the salaries of Black baseball players from the increase in gate receipts.7

The legend of Satchel Paige grew through his barnstorming tours and Negro League games, and it was Yankee Stadium that helped to bring his legend to the masses. He made 34 pitching appearances at the ballpark between 1934 and 1953. Paige started 20 of the games as a Negro Leaguer and barnstormer between 1934 and 1937. Scant newspaper accounts indicated that he pitched 107 innings, had 90 strikeouts, gave up 81 hits and 16 walks and was credited with an 11-3 record. As a relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Browns between 1948 and 1953, Paige made 13 relief appearances and one start. He pitched 33 innings, struck out 17 and gave up 22 hits and 11 walks, a WHIP of 1.00. He finished with an 0-3 record and five saves. Chronicling these games offers insight into his lifestyle and career as one of the most dominant and iconic pitchers of all time.

THE NEGRO LEAGUES AND BARNSTORMING AT YANKEE STADIUM

Paige pitched for the first time at Yankee Stadium on September 9, 1934, as a member of the legendary Pittsburgh Crawfords. The game was part of a four-team doubleheader fundraiser for Harlem’s Colonel Charles Young American Legion Post. Over 30,000 people, including hundreds who scaled the bleacher fences, were treated to a pitchers’ duel between Paige and Slim Jones of the Philadelphia Stars. At the time it was the largest crowd to watch Black baseball in New York.8

The story of his first game at Yankee Stadium began in typical Satchel Paige barnstorming fashion. Determined to arrive at the ballpark on time, Paige drove all night from Pittsburgh. He arrived in New York with little time to rent a hotel room, so he parked his car near the Stadium and slept the remainder of the evening. In the morning he was awakened by the batboy, who had been summoned by the Crawfords manager to find Paige. “I got into my uniform just in time to get that first pitch over the plate,” Paige recounted in his autobiography, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever.9

The Stars took an early 1-0 lead and Slim Jones sustained it until the eighth inning, when he fielded a bunt with runners on first and second and made the out at first instead of taking the lead runner, Oscar Charleston, who moved to third base. The next batter, Leroy Morney, drove in Charleston to tie the game. In the ninth inning, with one man on, Paige walked two batters.10 He then proceeded to strike out the final two batters, including Ameal Brooks on three swings and misses. Chester Washington recounted in the Pittsburgh Courier, “It was one of the most momentous occasions in Satchel’s life and fans gave him a real ovation for his never-say-die spirit. …”11 Paige finished the complete game with 12 strikeouts and three walks. The game was called because of darkness, ending in a 1-1 tie.

Three weeks later, on September 30, a crowd of 35,000 was treated to a rematch between Paige and Jones in another Negro League doubleheader. The game remained scoreless through six innings. The Stars scored their only run in the top of the seventh, then the Crawfords capitalized on two fielding errors and won, 3-1. Paige was sensational. He pitched a complete game and struck out seven, gave up five hits and did not issue a walk.12

Paige returned to Yankee Stadium in the fall of 1937 as member of the Paige All-Stars. Originally named the Santo Domingo Stars, this was a team of ex-Negro Leaguers who left the United States at the beginning of 1937 for better pay and societal freedom in the Dominican Republic. Paige was the ringleader of the move and recruited his Crawfords teammates, including Cool Papa Bell, Leroy Matlock, Sam Bankhead, and Josh Gibson. In a hasty response, Crawfords owner Gus Greenlee banned Paige and his team from organized Black baseball,13 only to reinstate the group in 1938.14

The Paige All-Stars traveled across the United States throughout 1937 and made their way to Yankee Stadium on September 26, in a rematch from a game the week before. On September 19 the Paige All-Stars had lost, 2-0, to young Johnny “Schoolboy” Taylor and a team of Negro League All-Stars at the Polo Grounds. Taylor threw a no-hitter; Paige gave up eight hits.

The rematch at Yankee Stadium was important to Paige, as whispers had begun to circulate that he was no longer considered the best pitcher in baseball. So in front of more than 25,000 spectators on September 26, 1937, Paige put on a clinic “with his dazzling fire-ball, baffling the Leaguers all afternoon.”15 He struck out seven over nine innings and went 1-for-4 at the plate, earning the 9-4 win. That was his last game at Yankee Stadium until 1941.

By 1941 Paige had been pitching professionally for 15 years, and the wear and tear on his arm began to show. While barnstorming through Latin America, Paige experienced a “dead arm” that forced him to return to the United States for medical treatment. He thought his career was over until the owner of the Kansas City Monarchs, J.L. Wilkinson, resurrected it.

Wilkinson had been following Paige’s career for several years. He first hired Satchel to pitch for the Kansas City Monarchs when they played against the Chicago American Giants on September 22, 1935, in Chicago. However, Paige was expected to pitch at Yankee Stadium that same day for the Pittsburgh Crawfords, the team that held his contract, but chose a bigger payday. This decision, along with several others over the next three years, would further complicate Paige’s relationship with the Crawfords and his future with the team.

In 1938 Crawfords owner Gus Greenlee was forced to sell many of his assets, including Paige, whom he offloaded to the Newark Eagles. Despite the agreement with owners Abe and Effa Manley, Paige did not report to the Eagles.16 He spent the next three years barnstorming in Mexico, the United States, and Puerto Rico, absent from the public eye, but became the center of the latest Negro League controversy upon his return.

When Paige returned to the United States in 1941, Wilkinson hired him to play for his traveling team, the Baby Monarchs, with the ultimate expectation that he would play for the Kansas City team. Not surprisingly, the Manleys were furious over Wilkinson’s move, because Paige was still under contract. The Manleys retaliated by poaching Negro American League players who were under contract. Paige remained with the Monarchs, and the Manleys were allowed to keep the less-talented players they poached as compensation.

Since Paige had been away from Negro League baseball for half a decade, Wilkinson decided that his return to the Negro Leagues required much fanfare and attention. Wilkinson enlisted New York playwrights Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman to craft a momentous return for Paige. They agreed that the stage of Yankee Stadium was befitting for a man of his stature. Thus, Wilkinson loaned Paige to the New York Black Yankees for the Negro National League season opener on May 11, 1941, at Yankee Stadium.17 Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia threw out the first pitch in front of 20,000 mostly Satchel Paige fans. It was estimated that a quarter to half of the crowd was White despite the New York Giants playing at the Polo Grounds, reinforcing Paige’s influence on baseball and his ability to attract fans.18

Paige earned the complete-game victory, 5-3, for the Black Yankees. He struck out eight and gave up five hits, relying on a newly developed curveball rather than his blistering fastball to dismantle the Philadelphia Stars.

Two months later, on July 20, 1941, Paige returned to Yankee Stadium, this time as a member of the Kansas City Monarchs. The matchup was against Dave Barnhill and the New York Cubans in the first game of a Negro League doubleheader. In front of an estimated 27,000 fans, the largest crowd at Yankee Stadium that year to watch Black baseball, Paige and the Monarchs dominated the Cubans both offensively and defensively. He struck out three and went 1-for-2 at the plate but had to exit the game in the eighth inning after being hit by a pitch. The Monarchs won, 7-2.19

Paige’s final appearance at Yankee Stadium in 1941 was on August 24 against the Newark Eagles. The game would have been otherwise a normal outing for the Monarchs and Eagles had it not been for the contentious history between Paige and the Manleys. Paige was exceptional, pitching five scoreless innings and striking out seven. He was 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored as the Monarchs beat the Eagles, 6-1.20

Paige and the Monarchs returned to Yankee Stadium in 1942 for two games, against the New York Cubans and the Homestead Grays. A crowd of 30,000 watched Paige and teammate Hilton Smith shut out the Cubans, 9-0, on August 2; the game was called in the seventh by agreement due to the lopsided score. Paige gave up the only hit in the fourth inning and was replaced by Smith in the fifth.21

Game Three of the Negro League World Series was played at Yankee Stadium on September 13, 1942. Paige and the Monarchs had built a 2-0 series lead against the Homestead Grays, winning convincingly in Washington, 8-0, and Pittsburgh, 8-4. Mayor LaGuardia was in attendance once again among a crowd of 25,000.22 This was Paige’s third pitching appearance in as many games, and it showed. He was in a jam early, giving up a two-run home run to Howard Easterling, and was replaced in third inning by Jack Matchett. The Monarchs amassed 16 hits that propelled them to a 9-3 victory and a commanding 3-0 series lead. Paige and the Monarchs went on to win the Negro League World Series, four games to one.23

In 1943 Paige and the Monarchs faced Dave Barnhill and the New York Cubans on three occasions at Yankee Stadium. On June 27 Paige coasted through five shutout innings, scattered four hits, and struck out five. The game was tied going into the seventh inning when the Monarchs scored three runs. The Monarchs won the game, 6-3, in front of 22,000 fans, the largest crowd to see Black baseball at Yankee Stadium that year.24

As was usual for Black baseball games, the reported attendance varied depending on the source. In game two of a three-game series, an estimated 20,00025 or 34,00026 spectators watched Paige face off against Dave Barnhill on August 8. Paige was not his usual self, giving up eight hits over three innings. Jack Matchett replaced him in the fourth inning, but the Cubans were relentless and won, 8-5.

The rubber match at Yankee Stadium was held on September 12. It was a masterful pitchers’ duel that capped off the Negro National League season. In the second game of the day for New York, the Cubans shut out Kansas City, 2-0. Barnhill and Paige both pitched complete games, which was uncommon for Paige late in his career. Barnhill gave up just two hits and struck out seven; Paige scattered 10 hits and struck out eight in the loss.27

In his only appearance at Yankee Stadium in 1944, Paige pitched in front of 28,000 against the New York Cubans in the second game of a doubleheader on August 26. It was promoted as the rematch between Paige and Johnny “Schoolboy” Taylor from seven years earlier. It was also the first game since Taylor’s return to Negro League baseball after he spent the previous two years working in a defense factory. Paige pitched five solid innings and struck out five to earn the 4-2 win.28

In 1945 Paige pitched twice at Yankee Stadium. On June 17, against the Philadelphia Stars, he threw six scoreless innings and retired 11 men in a row but did not factor in the decision, a 3-1 win.29 Two months later, on August 12, Paige pitched another gem, striking out eight Black Yankees and giving up four hits over six innings to lead the Monarchs to a 4-1 win.30

In 1946, his 20th year pitching professionally, Paige continued to defy Father Time, especially while pitching at Yankee Stadium. At this point in his career, Paige did not pitch complete games, but he was able to put together meaningful and efficient outings with his fastball and pitch location.

“Paige Sparkles, But Mates Lose to N.Y.” read the headline in the Pittsburgh Courier for the July 7, 1946, game between the Black Yankees and Monarchs.31 Paige pitched five innings, held the Black Yankees to two hits, struck out six, and did not give up a run. He was replaced in the sixth by Hilton Smith, who gave up four runs. Kansas City lost the game, 4-3, in 10 innings.

Three weeks later, on August 1, Paige and the Monarchs had their revenge, blanking the Black Yankees, 10-0. It was Yankee Stadium’s first Negro League night baseball game.32 Paige was sensational and efficient; in five scoreless innings, he faced 18 batters, had five strikeouts, and did not issue a walk.33 On September 15, 1946, in the final season game at Yankee Stadium, the Black Yankees won, 3-1. Paige pitched three scoreless innings in front of 11,000 fans.34

At the end of the major-league baseball season, on October 6, 1946, Bob Feller and his All-Stars battled Paige and his All-Stars before a crowd of 27,463 at Yankee Stadium. Paige and Feller each pitched five innings, and it was Paige who triumphed. He struck out four batters to Feller’s none and gave up three hits, blanking the Feller All-Stars, 4-0.35

In 1947 Paige and the Monarchs were walloped, 8-3, by the New York Cubans on August 8. Paige gave up three hits and one unearned run.36 The Monarchs returned to Yankee Stadium on August 24 to take on the New York Black Yankees in the second game of a Black Yankees doubleheader. The teams played to a scoreless tie that was called by agreement in the 10th inning.37

HIS TIME HAS COME

It seemed like a publicity stunt at the time, but when Bill Veeck signed Satchel Paige for the Cleveland Indians on July 7, 1948, on Paige’s 42nd birthday no less, he did it to give his youthful pitching staff veteran experience. Veeck said, “We are convinced he is the best available player who has a chance to help us win the pennant.”38 And that he did. Paige played a pivotal role in the 1948 World Series championship season for Cleveland and was called upon three times to pitch in relief against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

By July 21, the Indians were in first place in the American League, 3½ games ahead of the fourth-place Yankees. New York hosted Cleveland in a doubleheader. In game one, the Yankees won, 7-3, on Eddie Lopat’s complete game. In game two, run production was plentiful, and by the bottom of the sixth inning, when Paige entered the game, the Yankees were ahead 8-4. Paige was spectacular in one inning of work, holding Tommy Henrich, Yogi Berra, and Joe DiMaggio to a strikeout, a groundout, and a fly out respectively. In the top of the seventh, Cleveland cut the deficit to 8-7 and then won the game, 12-8, tying the series at one game apiece.

In the rubber match the next day, the Yankees scored six times off Bob Feller and took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth, when Paige came in. He gave up a single to Tommy Byrne and then retired Snuffy Stirnweiss, Tommy Henrich, and Charlie Keller. In the bottom of the seventh, Paige struck out DiMaggio, but DiMaggio reached first on an error by catcher Jim Hegan. Paige then retired the next three Yankees. However, Cleveland came up short and lost, 6-5.

On August 27, 1948, Cleveland visited New York for a doubleheader that was created by a rainout in May. Cleveland was a half-game ahead of the third-place Yankees and a half-game behind the first-place Red Sox. Cleveland routed New York, 8-1, in game one, and New York returned the favor in game two. Paige pitched in the bottom of the eighth inning of the second game with the Indians down 7-1 and retired the side on two fly-ball outs and a strikeout. Cleveland scored just once more in the top of the ninth and lost 7-2.

In the 1949 season, the defending World Series champions were in fourth place by June 18 when Paige made a rare start against New York ace Vic Raschi. This decision proved costly for Cleveland, which had won six games in a row. Paige walked three of the first four batters and gave up five hits and three earned runs. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote that his performance “left a lot to be desired for.”39 But the loss was not squarely on Paige; the Cleveland offense failed to produce as Raschi held them to seven hits and drove in a run of his own with a triple off Paige. Paige was replaced in the sixth and suffered his fourth loss of the season.

Cleveland faced New York on July 25 riding a four-game winning streak. Paige relieved Early Wynn in the bottom of the eighth and got six consecutive fly-ball outs, securing a 4-2 victory and his fourth save of the season. This was an important game for Cleveland; the win put the Indians three games behind the Yankees. This was the last game Paige pitched at Yankee Stadium for a World Series and pennant contender. Bill Veeck sold the Indians after the 1949 season, and the new ownership offered Paige one-quarter of his 1949 salary for the coming season. Paige declined and left the majors to barnstorm.

In 1951 Paige had been receiving offers to return to major-league baseball and consulted his friend Bill Veeck for advice. Veeck asked Paige to hang tight as he had something in the works. By midsummer, Veeck had purchased the St. Louis Browns, and within a week Paige was signed. Reported attendance nearly doubled, from 293,790 in 1951 to 518,796 in 1952 after Paige’s first full season with the team, despite the Browns being the worst team in baseball.

However, when the Browns returned to Yankee Stadium with Paige on September 11, 1951, they swept the doubleheader against the eventual 1951 World Series champion Yankees, 4-3 and 6-3. In the second game of the doubleheader, Paige relieved ex-Yankee Tommy Byrne in the sixth inning. He pitched 3⅓ innings of one-hit ball and secured the 6-3 victory and his fifth save of the season.

Paige pitched in four games at Yankee Stadium in 1952. His appearances ranged from less than one inning of work to a seven-inning outing that included extra innings. The Browns were still at the bottom of the league, but when Paige pitched at Yankee Stadium, the games were competitive.

Paige’s first pitching appearance in 1952 at Yankee Stadium was on April 30. He replaced Bob Cain in the bottom of the seventh with the Browns up 8-4 and a runner on first base. Paige retired Gene Woodling, Yogi Berra, and Johnny Mize to end the inning. In the bottom of the eighth, with two outs, Paige gave up a single to Mickey Mantle, then struck out Joe Collins. He continued his dominant performance in the ninth inning, shutting down the Yankees and earning his first save of the season in the 9-4 victory. Paige allowed one hit and one walk and struck out two in three innings. On June 7 the Browns lost to the Yankees, 2-1. Paige uncharacteristically walked two Yankees in the bottom of the eighth but did not give up a run.

In his longest pitching appearance at Yankee Stadium since he pitched a complete game in a loss to Dave Barnhill on September 12, 1943, Paige replaced Stubby Overmire in the bottom of the fourth of a 4-4 game on July 12. He pitched spectacularly for seven innings as the game went into extra innings, but the Yankees offense ultimately proved too much for the lanky veteran.

In the bottom of the 11th inning, Yogi Berra singled off Paige and went to second on a bunt single to third by Gil McDougald. Gene Woodling singled to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Johnny Mize popped out to the shortstop. Then pitcher Allie Reynolds hit a single to center field that scored Berra to end the game, 5-4. It was Paige’s fifth loss of the season.

Paige made his final 1952 appearance at Yankee Stadium on August 26, another heartbreaking walk-off loss. In the ninth, with the game tied 3-3, the Browns intentionally walked Mantle, a lifetime .500 hitter in eight at-bats against Paige, to pitch to Joe Collins. Collins was 2-for-9 against Paige with three strikeouts and no home runs until he belted a line drive into the right-field stands with two Yankees aboard. It was Paige’s ninth loss of the season.40

Paige called his 1953 season the worst he ever had.41 He finished with a 3-9 record and a 3.53 ERA. It was his last full major-league season. Veeck sold the Browns in the offseason; the new ownership moved the team to Baltimore and let Paige go.

Paige made four relief appearances at Yankee Stadium in 1953 that included his shortest outing. On May 17 he replaced Don Larsen in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the game tied, 4-4. He walked Gil McDougald, then was replaced by Virgil Trucks, who got a groundout to end the inning. The Yankees won, 6-5, in extra innings.

A month later, on June 16, Paige and the Browns defeated the Yankees, 3-1. The win ended both the Browns’ 14-game losing streak and the Yankees’ 18-game winning streak. After the game Paige said, “There’s no team I like to beat better than them Yankees.”42 He pitched 1⅔ innings of shutout ball to secure the win for the Browns and earn his sixth save of the season. Paige was especially proud of this outing, saying, “I had that Mantle kid so confused he tried to bunt on a third strike. Imagine a fool thing like that. A home run hitter to bunt with two strikes on him.”43

Two days later, on June 18, Paige was not as sharp when he replaced Bob Cain in the seventh inning with the Browns down 1-0 and Yankee runners on first and second. Paige gave up an inherited run on a single by Billy Martin with the bases loaded. His afternoon was done the following inning when he was pinch-hit for. The Yankees blanked the Browns, 3-0.

Paige’s final appearance at Yankee Stadium, on September 16, 1953, came more than 19 years after his first. He replaced Duane Pillette in the bottom of the sixth with one out, the bases loaded, and a 4-1 lead. He gave up a single to Willy Miranda that scored Hank Bauer, but Johnny Mize was thrown out trying to score from second to end the inning.

Paige breezed through the seventh inning but was challenged in the eighth and ninth. The Yankees scored with two outs in the bottom of the eighth on a pinch-hit single by Mantle. Then Don Bollweg flied out. In the top of the ninth, Paige helped his cause by hitting a fielder’s choice grounder that scored Jim Dyck and increased the Browns’ lead to 5-3. In the bottom of the ninth with one out, Bill Renna hit a double to right field. Andy Carey flied out to deep center but Renna did not tag. Paige walked Irv Noren, then got Hank Bauer fly out, ending the game. It was Paige’s 11th and final save of the season and the last time he pitched at Yankee Stadium.

Paige is immortalized in the annals of baseball history for his showmanship, blistering fastball, pinpoint accuracy, and a number of apocryphal tales of his playing days. He pitched in a plethora of sandlots and ballparks throughout his career that paled in comparison to the vaunted Yankee Stadium. Each of Paige’s 34 appearances at Yankee Stadium contributed to his legendary career and demonstrated his versatility as a pitcher and tenacity as an athlete. But what stands out the most when Paige pitched in Yankee Stadium was his ability to draw a crowd and entertain the masses. The greatest showman in baseball deserved the greatest stage. And there was no greater stage in baseball than Yankee Stadium, and no greater showman than Satchel Paige.

NICK MALIAN lives with his wife and daughter in LaSalle, Ontario, Canada, where he was born and raised. Growing up in a border city, he idolized Detroit Tigers greats Cecil Fielder and Alan Trammell. As an impressionable 12-year-old, his allegiance shifted from the Tigers to the New York Yankees following their postseason dominance in 1996. He still attempts the “Derek Jeter jump-throw” (with limited success) at his weekly softball games. Nick is a pharmacist by day and amateur home chef by night. He enjoys reading anything about baseball and getting lost in science-fiction and fantasy novels.

 

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted B​aseba​ll-referen​ce.​com, h​ttps:​//www​.base​ball-​alman​ac.co​m/tea​ms/ya​nkatt​e.​shtml, and the following:

Sullivan, Neil J. The Diamond in the Bronx: Yankee Stadium and the Politics of New York (New York: Oxford Press, 2008).

 

NOTES

1 James Overmyer, “Black Baseball at Yankee Stadium: The House That Ruth Built and Satchel Furnished (with Fans),” SABR.​org, h​ttps:​//sab​r.org​/jour​nal/a​rticl​e/bla​ck-ba​sebal​l-at-​yanke​e-sta​dium-​the-h​ouse-​that-​ruth-​built​-and-​satch​el-fu​rnish​ed-wi​th-​fans/, accessed June 2022.

2 Paige’s birthdate has been reported differently at times. We use the date as provided by S​eamhe​ads.​com.

3 Joe Posnanski, The Baseball 100 (Avid Reader Press: New York, 2021), 707.

4 The average attendance for games Paige pitched at Yankee Stadium was determined conservatively, using the newspaper reported attendance cited in Notes 8, 12, 15, 18-22, 24, 25, 27-32, 34-37 and dividing by 20, for the number of games pitched.

5 Average attendance at Yankee Stadium for New York Yankee games was determined from h​ttps:​//www​.base​ball-​alman​ac.co​m/tea​ms/ya​nkatt​e.​sht​ml.

6 Larry Tye, Satchel: The Life and Times of An American Legend (New York: Random House, 2009), 63.

7 Tye, 63.

8 William E. Clarke, “30,000 Attend Four-Team Double Header at Yankee Stadium,” New York Age, September 15, 1934: 5.

9 Leroy (Satchel) Paige, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever (South Orange, New Jersey: Summer Game Books, 2018), 67.

10 Paige was known to intentionally walk the bases loaded for show. However, this was not the case in this game.

11 Chester L. Washington, “Paige Fans 12 to Shade Jones in Hot Mound Duel,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 15, 1934: 14

12 C. Augustus Austin, “35,000 Fans See Black Yankees and Pittsburgh Crawfords Defeat Chicago and Phila. At Stadium,” New York Age, October 6, 1934: 5.

13 Tye, 110-111.

14 Tye, 117.

15 “25,000 Watch Satchel Get Revenge Over All-Stars in Yankee Stadium,” Pittsburgh Courier, October 2, 1937: 16.

16 In Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, Paige said of Greenlee and the trade “Only he was selling a piece of paper and not the real stuff. Whatever happened, I didn’t pay much attention to it down in Mexico.” Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, 105.

17 Tye, 146.

18 “18,000 Thrilled as Satchel Paige Returns in Triumph in N.Y.,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 17, 1941: 16.

19 Maurice Dancer, “27,500 See KC and Paige Defeat Cubans,” Chicago Defender, July 26, 1941: 23.

20 St. Clair Bourne, “Monarchs Trounce Eagles, 6-1; Cubans Top Philadelphia, 4-3,” New York Amsterdam Star-News, August 30, 1941: 18.

21 “Paige in Form Before 30,000 Fans,” Greenville (Ohio) Daily Advocate, August 3, 1942: 5.

22 “25,000 See Monarchs Defeat Grays, 9 to 3,” New York Times, September 14, 1942: 21.

23 Dave Barr, “The 1942 Negro Leagues World Series – A Story That’s Hard to Tell,” MLB.​com/​blogs, October 29, 2013, accessed August 30, 2022, h​ttps:​//nlb​m.mlb​logs.​com/t​he-19​42-ne​gro-l​eague​s-wor​ld-se​ries-​a-sto​ry-th​ats-h​ard-t​o-tel​l-b08​5462d​2a41.

24 Wendell Smith, “Paige Stars as Monarchs Win in Yankee Stadium,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 3, 1943: 18.

25 Wendell Smith, “‘Satch’ Is Blasted Before 20,000 Fans at Yankee Stadium,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 14, 1943: 18.

26 Daniel, “Cuban Stars Defeat Monarchs and Philly,” New York Amsterdam News, August 14, 1943: 15.

27 “Barnhill Gives Up 2 Hits; Beats Satchell, 2-0,” New York Amsterdam News, September 18, 1943: 20.

28 Wendell Smith, “28,000 See Cubans Top Barons: Lose to K.C.,” Pittsburgh Courier, September 2, 1944: 12.

29 “14,000 Witness Paige Score Four Hits At Yankee Stadium, Sun,” New York Age, June 23, 1945: 11.

30 Haskell Cole, “Paige Sparkles as Kansas City Triumphs,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 13, 1945: 12.

31 Haskell Cole, “Paige Sparkles, But Mates Lose to N.Y.,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 13, 1946: 16.

32 “Paige Halts Black Yanks: Stars as Monarchs Triumph in Stadium Night Game, 10-0,” New York Times, August 2, 1946: 25.

33 “Paige Halts Black Yanks.”

34 “Black Yankees Beat Monarch Nine by 6 to 1,” New York Amsterdam News, September 21, 1946: 13.

35 “Paige’s All-Stars Rout Feller’s, 4-0,” New York Times, October 7, 1946: 25.

36 “Cubans Triumph by 8-3,” New York Times, August 9, 1947: 8.

37 “Black Yanks Win and Tie,” New York Times August 25, 1947: 20.

38 Associated Press, “Indians Sign Fabulous Satchel Paige,” Syracuse Post-Standard, July 8, 1948: 14.

39 “Raschi Subdues Indians for No. 11,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 19, 1949: 22.

40 Associated Press, “Tribe Beats A’s; Yanks Win 6-3,” Waco News-Tribune, August 27, 1952: 12.

41 Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, 233.

42 Ben Phlegar (Associated Press), “Brownies Elated at Yank-Kill,” Mt. Vernon (Illinois) Register News, June 17, 1953: 10.

43 Joe Reichler (Associated Press), “Satchel Confesses He’s Best Relief Pitcher in Game Today,” Alton (Illinois) Evening Telegraph, June 19, 1953: 16.