It's a Long Way from Mobile to Cleveland

By David Marasco

On July 9, 1948, baseball's oldest rookie took the mound for the Cleveland Indians. After twenty years behind the color barrier, Satchel Paige had arrived in the major leagues. Bob Lemon had started the game against the St. Louis Browns, but had proved ineffective. At the top of the fifth, trailing by a score of 4 to 1, manager Lou Boudreau went to his bullpen for the Master.

A storybook would have Paige strike out the first batter with but three pitches. History is a little less dramatic. After taking the first pitch for a ball, Chuck Stevens singled to left. Gerald Priddy bunted Stevens over to second, bringing Whitey Platt to the plate. Satchel started him out with a changeup, fooling Platt so badly that his bat went flying down the third base line. A foul ball and an outside pitch ran the count to 1 and 2. Paige then zipped in a sidearm fastball and Platt took a mighty rip. At the age of forty- two Satchel Paige had just recorded his first major league strikeout. The next batter, Al Zarilla, flew out to right to end the inning. In the dugout afterwards, Satchel had a chance to talk with his catcher Jim Hegan. As it turns out, the Indians had been using two fingers down to call for a fastball, and one for a curve. Satchel had been assuming the opposite. Somehow it makes sense that after all of those years Paige and Organized Baseball would have their signals crossed. It didn't matter to Satchel, he just kept pitching.

And keep pitching he did. That night in July he went two innings, allowed two hits, no walks and no runs. He was the first African-American to toe the rubber in the American League. After the game, Browns manager Zack Taylor complained that Paige's infamous hesitation pitch was illegal. At the peak of his career, Satchel's hesitation pitch was so effective that batters would swing before the ball had even left Satchel's hand. In response, Satchel defended himself by claiming that the pitch had been legal when he had started pitching. The American League came down on the side of St. Louis. The hesitation pitch was banned. Once again, Satchel was calm. In his autobiography, he claimed "I figured that I'd just have to get out there and confuse those kids with ordinary stuff."

Several days later, Satchel was called in to face the Brooklyn Dodgers during an exhibition game in Cleveland. The game featured Paige, Larry Doby, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella, the only four African-Americans in the majors at that time. The game was witnessed by nearly 65,000 fans. Cleveland's African- American population at the time was an estimated 125,000 people. Of those, 25,000 were at the stadium that night. Relieving Don Black, Satchel struck out the side in the seventh needing only twelve pitches. He claimed Hodges, Palica and Brown as his victims. After setting down the side in order in the eighth, Satchel singled in the bottom-half of the inning before leaving the game. The Indians would go on to win in the eleventh.

July 15, the day after the exhibition, Satchel was called in to pitch against the Philadelphia Athletics. In the second game of a double-header, Bob Lemon was all set to give up a 4 to 2 lead. After letting in a man to run the score to 4 to 3, Lemon was replaced by Satchel. After pitching his way out of a jam, Satchel received some support and was enjoying a 5 to 3 lead. But in the seventh he gave up a two-out double to Ferris Fain, and then Hank Majeski hit a long home run. The Indians and the A's were tied. The Tribe struck back right away on the strength of a Ken Keltner home run. With a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth Satchel shut down the A's. When the Indians put two more runs on the board in their half of the ninth, this was the signal for Satchel to cruise. He retired the A's in the ninth and won his first major league victory.

Satchel would pitch relief for the remainder of July, but was given the nod to start in the beginning of August. His first start was on August the 2nd against the Washington Senators. A record 72,434 people came to see Satchel. It was the most ever for a night game in Cleveland. Satchel would break the new record later in the season. As in his major league debut, things began a little rocky. After the first man lined out to left, Paige gave up walks to the next two men he faced. They came in to score when the clean-up hitter tripled to left-center. Paige was able to stop the bleeding and strand the runner at third. The Senators tallied against Satchel again in the fifth when they manufactured a run off of an Early Wynn double. However, the Tribe would go on to win the game by a score of 5 to 3. Satchel would go seven innings deep, giving up seven hits to six strikeouts. With that victory, the Indians climbed back into first place in the American League.

After his first appearance in the rotation, Satchel spent more time in the Indian's bullpen. On August the 8th he came into a game against the New York Yankees. He recorded no walks or stirkeouts. However, the Yankees' Joe Page had three walks and two strikeouts. In a moment of confusion, the person responsible for reporting statistics credited both Paige and Page each with three walks and two strikeouts. These extra data points were added to Satchel's 1948 season numbers, and of course to his career totals. This error was uncovered only this year, nearly 50 years after the fact.

Satchel's second start took place on the 13th of August, this time at Chicago. Satchel was no stranger to Comiskey Park, as that was where the Negro Leagues held their annual East-West game. On this night 51,013 paid to see him, once again setting a park record for a night game. An estimated 15,000 additional fans were turned away. That night Satchel gave the people in the seats a show. The game was close until the end. Neither team scored in the first four innings, and after five Satchel had to guard a slim 1 to 0 advantage. In the eighth the Indians scored another run, and then broke the game open in the ninth with three more. Satchel went the distance, shutting out the White Sox by a score of 5 to 0. He allowed only five hits and no walks over his nine innings. He was so masterful that Umpire Art Passarella commented, "That old boy's around the plate all the time and calling balls and strikes for him's a breeze. I was behind the plate in that shutout he worked in Chicago and I never had an easier game in my life." Once again, Paige's victory lifted the Cleveland Indians back into first place.

Satchel's best game of the season came on August the 20th, again against the Chicago White Sox. He drew the largest night crowd in baseball history with 78,382 fans. As he had throughout the 30's and 40's, Satchel rose to the occasion. While his teammates could score for him but one run, that was all he would need. He went the full nine and did not allow a single runner to third. He threw 92 pitches, retiring the White Sox in order six of nine times. His five strikeouts outnumbered his four baserunners (three hits, one walk). Not only that, but he placed the Cleveland staff into the history books. The previous three outings by the Indians had all been shutouts. By blanking Chicago, it was the fourth consecutive shutout, a feat that had been accomplished in the American League by only the 1903 Indians and the 1932 Yankees.

The Cleveland Indians would go on to win the American League pennant and also the World Series in that Summer of 1948. But the race was a close one, so close that the season ended in a tie. The Tribe went to the Series only after beating the Boston Red Sox in a one-game play-off. In such a close heat, pitching was at a premium. Satchel no doubt made his presence known by posting a record of six wins to but one defeat and excellent work in relief. As a display of how his team felt about his contribution, he was voted a full World Series share, despite joining the club at the half-way mark. As valuable as he was to his teammates, he valuable in another manner to owner Bill Veeck. Satchel pulled in the fans. The Indians drew a record 2.6 million in attendance, more than any other team ever at the time. This number was boosted in no small way by the large crowds that were generated any time Satchel started; he had drawn over 200,000 in his first three starts alone. Satchel had finally reached the top. And when he did, he broke his own rule about not looking back -- "It's a long way from Mobile to Cleveland."