Satchel Paige's Pitching Lines - 1948

By David Marasco

These pitching lines were taken from box scores printed in 1948. In the 40's box scores did not give pitching lines as they do today. Instead they would list how many walks, strikeouts, innings pitched and hits were recorded. However, each was listed under a separate category, that is, all strikeouts were listed by pitcher, then all walks, Etc. This made it harder to organize each pitcher's achievement. It also lead to a mistake that I believe has gone unnoticed for almost 50 years. Observe Satchel Paige's official 1948 totals:

IP	W	L	H	R	ER	BB	SO
72.2	6	1	61	21	20	25	45

Close inspection will reveal that my totals have Satchel Paige credited with three fewer walks and two fewer strikeouts. After I double-checked my math I went over the box scores with a fine-tooth comb. Then I discovered that in the August 8 game hosting the New York Yankees, Satchel pitched against a man named Joe Page. In that game Page is credited with three walks and two strikeouts, the exact difference between Paige's official and actual season performances. What must have happened is that the person who originally totalled Paige's numbers for 1948 must have seen Page in the box score and mistaken it for Paige. I have seen many accounts of "Satchell Page" in my readings of 1930's newspapers, so it comes as no surprise that somebody would make that mistake. In any case, Satchel's line from 1948 should read 22 walks and 43 strikeouts.

I would like to thank both Pete Palmer (of Total Baseball) and Lyle Spatz (Society for American Baseball Research - Baseball Records Committee) for going the extra yard after I had brought this to their attention. Pete checked the official game reports from Cooperstown and discovered that in these reports both Paige and Page had been given credit for two strikeouts and three walks. He then added up the season totals for the two pitchers, finding Joe Page's official numbers to be correct and Satchel's to be wrong. He then went on to point out that the 1948 pitching totals for the American League were off by 2 strikeouts and 2 walks. With the Paige error accounted for, the strikeouts now match, and the walks are off by one (in the other direction of course). Lyle also checked the Cooperstown sheets and saw that both pitchers were given credit for similar events. He went to the microfilm and found a play-by-play account from a 1948 Cleveland Plain Dealer. The article confirms what I had gleaned from a less detailed New York Times report, that it was Page who should be credited with the walks and strikeouts, not Paige.

The newest edition of Total Baseball, Major League Baseball's official encyclopedia, has updated Satchel Paige's pitching stats to reflect my findings.