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1948 Satchel Paige Rookie Photograph from the Day after Signing with Indians (PSA Type I)
Hall of Famer Satchel Paige was a larger-than-life personage who played professional baseball for five decades. Presented is a Type I photo from the day after the legendary right-hander signed a contract to pitch for the Cleveland Indians. The immortal Paige began his professional career with the Chattanooga Black Lookouts of the Negro Southern League. He played all over the baseball globe for decades. His main team was the famous Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro National League, but he played in Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico - everywhere. Paige pitched for five decades. Records for the Negro Leagues are often scarce and sketchy, and many of the literally thousands of games in which Paige pitched were exhibition games, but Paige was unquestionably one of the all-time great pitchers in baseball - in any league. On July 9, 1948 [the foregoing date is the official date of Paige's signing with Cleveland, but the actual signing was apparently on July 6}, Paige, who was 42 years old, signed a contract with owner Bill Veeck's Cleveland Indians to become the first African American pitcher in the American League. Used as both a starter and reliever, Paige had a 6-1 record in '48, with a 2.48 ERA. and he was a part of the '48 Cleveland World Champions. Paige pitched another season for Cleveland in 1949, spent another year in the Negro Leagues with the Philadelphia Stars and then played from 1951-53 with the St. Louis Browns in the AL. Amazingly, Paige pitched once more in the Major League Baseball when he threw three innings for his hometown Kansas City Athletics of the American League in a regulation game in 1965. In a miraculous performance, the 59-year-old hurler threw three shutout innings, allowing just one hit. Paige's Major League statistics show a 118-80 record with a 2.70 ERA. The offered photo measures approximately 6x8". Attached to the back of the photo is a paper copy of the caption used for the Acme newspapers wire photo: "Cleveland Bureau/Cleveland, O.: Leroy "Satchel" Paige, 39-year-old [Paige often obscured his real age. He is now generally thought to have been 42 years old when he signed with Cleveland] top-flight Negro pitcher of 20 years standing, donned a Cleveland Indians cap and shirt for photographers in his hotel room here July 7. Paige who was signed to the club July 6, came to Cleveland from the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League. 7/7/48." The paper on the back of the photo is larger in width than the photo, and as a result, some of this back paper shows in the front on less than a half inch on either side on the bottom. The photo has been encapsulated and PSA/DNA certified as Type I Authentic.
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