Editing Satchel Paige (section)

==American and National League==
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2011}}

===Cleveland Indians===
On July 7, 1948, Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck brought Paige in to try out with Indians [[player-coach]] [[Lou Boudreau]]. On that same day, his 42nd birthday, Paige signed his first major league contract, for $40,000 for the three months remaining in the season, becoming the first black pitcher in the American League and the seventh black big leaguer overall.<ref>Powell, Larry. "Leroy "Satchel" Paige". 2008. ''Encyclopedia of Alabama''.</ref> On July 9, 1948, Paige became the oldest man ever to debut in the National League or American League, at the age of 42 years and two days. When asked about his age, he would reply "If someone asked you how old you were and you didn't know your age, how old would you think you were?" With the St. Louis Browns beating the Indians 4–1 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Boudreau pulled his starting pitcher, Bob Lemon, and sent Paige in. Paige, not knowing the signs and not wanting to confuse his catcher, pitched cautiously. [[Chuck Stevens]] lined a ball to left field for a single. [[Jerry Priddy]] bunted Stevens over to second. Up next was [[Whitey Platt]], and Paige decided to take command. He threw an overhand pitch for a strike and one sidearm for another strike. Paige then threw his "Hesitation Pitch" (see "pitching style" section below), which surprised Platt so much that he threw his bat 40 feet up the third base line. Browns manager [[Zack Taylor (baseball)|Zack Taylor]] bolted from the dugout to talk to umpire [[Bill McGowan]] about the pitch, claiming it was a [[balk]], but McGowan let it stand as a strike. Paige then got [[Al Zarilla]] to fly out to end the inning. The next inning, he gave up a leadoff single, but with his catcher having simplified his signals, Paige got the next batter to hit into a double play, followed by a pop fly. Larry Doby [[Pinch hitter|pinch-hit]] for Paige the following inning.

[[File:Satchel Paige 1949 Bowman.jpg|thumb|190px|left|Paige's 1949 [[Bowman Gum]] baseball card, during his tenure with the Indians]]
Paige got his first big league victory on July 15, 1948, the night after he pitched in an exhibition game against the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] in front of 65,000 people in Cleveland's [[Cleveland Stadium|Municipal Stadium]]. It came at [[Oakland Athletics|Philadelphia]]'s [[Shibe Park]]. The Indians were up 5–3 and the bases were loaded in the sixth inning of the second game of a double header. He got [[Eddie Joost]] to fly out to end the inning, but gave up two runs the next inning when [[Ferris Fain]] doubled and [[Hank Majeski]] hit a [[home run]]. Paige buckled down and gave up only one more hit the rest of the game, getting five of the next six outs on fly balls.

Longtime [[Chicago Cubs]] broadcaster [[Jack Brickhouse]] once said with amusement that Paige "threw a lot of pitches that were not quite 'legal' and not quite 'illegal.{{'"}} American League President [[Will Harridge]] eventually ruled the hesitation pitch illegal and stated that if Paige threw it again, it would be called a balk. Paige said, "I guess Mr. Harridge did not want me to show up those boys who were young enough to be my sons."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Paige |first=Satchel |others=as told to David Lipman |date=August 1962 |title=Maybe I'll Pitch Forever |pages=81–96 |work=Negro Digest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RbMDAAAAMBAJ&dq=I+guess+Mr.+Harridge+did+not+want+me+to+show+up+those+boys+who+were+young+enough+to+be+my+sons&pg=PA89 |access-date=July 5, 2022}}</ref>

On August 3, 1948, with the Indians one game behind the Athletics, Boudreau started Paige against the Washington Senators in Cleveland. The 72,562 people that saw the game set a new attendance record for a major league night game. Although a nervous Paige walked two of the first three batters and gave up a triple to [[Bud Stewart]] to fall behind 2–0, by the time he left in the seventh, the Indians were up 4–2 and held on to give him his second victory. His next start was at Comiskey Park in Chicago. 51,013 people paid to see the game, but many thousands more stormed the turnstiles and crashed into the park, overwhelming the few dozen ticket-takers. Paige went the distance, shutting out the White Sox, 5–0, debunking the assumption that nine innings of pitching was now beyond his capabilities.

The Indians were in a heated pennant race on August 20, 1948. Coming into the game against the White Sox, Bob Lemon, [[Gene Bearden]] and [[Sam Zoldak]] had thrown shutouts to run up a 30-inning scoreless streak, 11 shy of the big league record. 201,829 people had come to see his last three starts. For this game in Cleveland, 78,382 people came to see Paige, a full 6,000 more people than the previous night game attendance record. Paige went the distance, giving up two singles and one double for his second consecutive three hit shutout. At that point in the season, Paige was 5–1 with an astoundingly low 1.33 ERA. He made one appearance in the [[1948 World Series]]. He pitched for two-thirds of an inning in Game Five<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE194810100.shtml|title=1948 World Series Game 5, Boston Braves at Cleveland Indians, October 10, 1948 - Baseball-Reference.com|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> while the Indians were trailing the [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]]. Paige gave up a [[sacrifice fly]] to [[Warren Spahn]], got called for a balk, and got [[Tommy Holmes]] to ground out to shortstop Lou Boudreau. The Indians won the series in six games.

Paige ended the 1948 season with a 6–1 record with a 2.48 ERA, 2 shutouts, 43 strikeouts, 22 walks and 61 base hits allowed in 72{{frac|2|3}} innings. There was some discussion of Paige possibly winning the Rookie of the Year Award. While technically a "rookie" to the majors, the 20-plus-year veteran Paige regarded such an idea with disdain and considered rejecting the award if it were to be given. The issue proved moot, as both versions of the award (by [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|Major League Baseball]] and by ''[[Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award|Sporting News]]'') were given to other players. The year 1949 was not nearly as good for Paige as 1948. He ended the season with a 4–7 record and was 1–3 in his starts with a 3.04 ERA. After the season, with Veeck selling the team to pay for his divorce, the Indians gave Paige his unconditional release.

===St. Louis Browns===
[[File:Satchel Paige St. Louis Browns.jpg|thumb|180px|Paige as a member of the St. Louis Browns, circa 1951–53.]]
Penniless, Paige returned to his barnstorming days after being released from the Indians. When Veeck bought an 80% interest in the St. Louis Browns he soon signed Paige. In his first game back in the major leagues, on July 18, 1951, against the Washington Senators, Paige pitched six innings of shutout baseball until the seventh when he gave up three runs. He ended the season with a 3–4 record and a 4.79 ERA.

In 1952, Rogers Hornsby took over as manager of the Browns, and despite past accusations of racism, Hornsby was less hesitant to use Paige than Boudreau was four years before. Paige was so effective that when Hornsby was fired by Veeck, his successor [[Marty Marion]] seemed not to want to risk going more than three games without using Paige in some form. By July 4, with Paige having worked in 25 games, [[Casey Stengel]] named him to the American League [[1952 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] team, making him the first black pitcher on an AL All-Star team. The All-Star game was cut short after five innings due to rain and Paige never got in. Stengel resolved to name him to the team the following year. Paige finished the year 12–10 with a 3.07 ERA for a team that lost ninety games.<ref>McElrath, Jessica. [http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/satchelpaige/p/bio_paige_s.htm "African American History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708052542/http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/satchelpaige/p/bio_paige_s.htm |date=July 8, 2009 }}. About.com. March 14, 2009.</ref>

Stengel kept his word and named Paige to the [[1953 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1953 All-Star team]] despite Paige not having a very good year. Paige ended the year with a disappointing 3–9 record. Paige was released after the season when Veeck sold the Browns.

===Hiatus from the Major Leagues===
Paige once again returned to his barnstorming days. Then, on August 14, 1955, Paige signed a contract with the [[Greensboro Patriots]] of the [[Carolina League]].

Veeck once again came to Paige's rescue when, after taking control of the Phillies' Triple-A farm team, the [[Miami Marlins (IL)|Miami Marlins]] of the [[International League]], he signed Paige to a contract for $15,000 and a percentage of the gate. Paige finished the season 11–4 with an ERA of 1.86 with 79 strikeouts and only 28 walks. This time, when Veeck left the team, Paige was allowed to stay on, for two more years.

In 1957, the Marlins finished in sixth place, but Paige had a 10–8 record with 76 strikeouts versus 11 walks and 2.42 ERA. The following year, Paige finished 10–10, saying that he would not return to Miami in 1959. In 1959, Paige returned to his barnstorm roots and signed a pitching contract with the Havana Cuban Stars who were owned by Dempsey Hovland. Paige was in and out of baseball, pitching sporadically, over the next decade.

At the age of 55, in 1961, Paige signed on with the Triple-A [[Portland Beavers]] of the [[Pacific Coast League]], pitching 25 innings, striking out 19 and giving up eight earned runs. He failed to record a single decision in his stint with the Beavers.<ref>"Looking Back, Satchel Paige's Portland legend is gaining", Joseph Rose, ''The [Portland] Oregonian'', August 26, 2015, p. B8</ref>

===Kansas City Athletics===
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]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=196509250KC1|title=Boston Red Sox vs Kansas City Athletics September 25, 1965 Box Score|date=September 25, 1965|work=Baseball-Almanac.com|publisher=Baseball Almanac|access-date=August 20, 2009}}</ref> 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 Gosger]] 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 standing ovation from the small crowd of 9,289. The lights dimmed and, led by the PA announcer, the fans lit matches and cigarette lighters while singing "[[The Old Gray Mare]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kelly |first1=Matt |title=Satch's Swan Song |url=https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/satchel-paige-pitches-last-major-league-game-at-age-59 |website=baseballhall.org |publisher=Baseball Hall of Fame |access-date=16 March 2022}}</ref>

===The end===
In 1966, Paige continued to tour the country pitching exhibition games. On June 19, 1966, Paige took the mound for the [[Carolina League]]'s [[Peninsula Grays]] against the [[Greensboro Yankees]] in a three-inning exhibition stint, not allowing a hit. Grays General Manager Marshall Fox decided to let the nearly-sixty-year-old legend pitch in a real game, which Satchel did two days later, drawing a much larger-than-usual crowd of 3,118<ref>The Grays drew 74,366 to 65 home dates that year, or 1,144 per contest</ref> to War Memorial Stadium. Again facing Greensboro, Paige started the game and pitched two innings, allowing two runs on five hits, before giving way to scheduled starter (and future big-leaguer) [[Steve Mingori]]. Notably, the Grays opted to use their back-up catcher Bruce Lowell that night, and not their regular man behind the plate, future Hall of Famer [[Johnny Bench]].<ref>"Otto's Homer Lifts Yanks From Cellar", ''The Greensboro Record'', June 22, 1966, p. B9</ref>