REMEMBER WHEN: Satchel Paige was the First Black Player Nominated to the Baseball Hall of Fame

He was called the "best and fastest pitcher I've ever faced" by Joe DiMaggio. On this day fifty-two years ago, Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige became the first Negro League veteran to be nominated into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Paige was born on July 7, 1906. He earned his nickname "Satchel" by working at train stations as a porter. He had a five-decade career in baseball, beginning in 1926 as a pitcher in the segregated Negro League. During the off-season, he played in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and South America. He racked up 30,000 miles, traveling to play for whoever would pay his fee. Paige pitched an estimated 2,500 games, including 55 no-hitters and 300 shutouts.

In 1948, a year after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, Paige joined the Major Leagues as a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. At 42 years of age, he was the oldest rookie player in baseball. The Indians won the World Series that year. Five years later, in 1953, he retired from Major League baseball. However, he returned in 1965 at the age of 59 to pitch three innings for the Kansas City A's. Thus, he became the oldest major league player.

In addition to his pranks and sense of humor, Satchel Paige was known for sayings like: “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you” and “Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

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