Satchel Paige

1906–1982 · Negro leagues and Major League pitcher

Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige began pitching in the Negro leagues with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1927 and did not reach the Major Leagues until 9 July 1948, when he debuted for the Cleveland Indians at 42. That season he became the first player who had played in the Negro leagues to pitch in a World Series. He threw his last Major League game for the Kansas City Athletics in September 1965, two weeks shy of 60, and in 1971 became the first player elected by the Hall of Fame’s Negro League Committee.

Traced to source

4 quotes we’ve traced to Satchel Paige

“Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you”

Verified

“Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines”

Verified

“I have never thrown an illegal pitch. The trouble is some of my pitches were never seen by this generation until I came along”

Verified

“Cool Papa was so fast that he could turn off the light switch and get into bed before the room got dark”

Attributed

Not actually Satchel Paige

Often misattributed to Satchel Paige

Famous lines widely pinned on Satchel Paige that we’ve traced to someone else.

“How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?”

actually Rev. Clarence H. Wilson

“Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits”

actually William Gunning King

Did they really say it?

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