07/08/2026
Today is Satchel Paige's 120th birthday. July 7, 1906.
Most baseball historians will tell you he was one of the five best pitchers who ever lived. He spent the prime years of his career — his 20s and 30s — in the Negro Leagues and barnstorming circuits, barred from the majors by the color line. By the time Jackie Robinson broke through and the door opened for Paige, he was 42 years old.
He made the Cleveland Indians roster in 1948 and promptly helped them win the World Series that year. Paige went 6-1 with a 2.48 ERA. At forty-two.
In 1965, at age 59, he pitched three scoreless innings for the Kansas City Athletics against the Boston Red Sox. His last batter faced in a major league game was Carl Yastrzemski.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.
This JSA-authenticated signed photo shows Paige in an Atlanta Braves coach's uniform — late in his life, still connected to the game that took so long to let him in. The Braves kept him on staff in 1968 in part to help him qualify for his MLB pension. Small restitution for a career that deserved a lot more.
We also have an original news wire photo from his Cleveland Indians days — a black and white press photo with the Global News Photo stamp on the back. That one isn't for sale; it's part of the personal collection. But we're posting it today because the contrast between that young Paige in a Cleveland uniform and the elder statesman in the Braves photo is the whole story in two images.
The signed JSA photo is available now at the link below.
www.frontrunnersportsmemorabilia.com