Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige

ca.1906 – 1982 

Legendary for his play and his personality, Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, the first Negro Leagues player so honored. 

Born in Mobile, Alabama, about 1906, his nickname sprang from his job carrying suitcases at the train station. But it was his pitching that was the stuff of legend. He began his career in segregated baseball in 1926, eventually settling in with the Kansas City Monarchs. 

In 1948 Paige signed with the Cleveland Indians, the oldest rookie ever in the majors. He played into his sixties and died in Kansas City in 1982.