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Black History Month: Kansas City Monarchs pitcher LeRoy 'Satchel' Paige

Posted at 10:58 AM, Feb 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-24 11:58:59-05

LeRoy 'Satchel' Paige was a pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs between 1935 and 1955. 

He was famous for a fastball that moved so quickly batters used to say it looked like the ball was the size of a pea. Paige became somewhat of a folk legend thanks to "barnstorming tours" with other teams across the country. Teams would advertise that Paige was guaranteed to strike out the first nine batters. 

February is Black History Month. We're highlighting prominent African American's in the Kansas City area. Click here to view more videos.

He also developed colorful names for his different styles of pitches, like the "hesitation pitch," "midnight creeper," and "bat dodger."

He didn't make it into the Major League Baseball League until he was signed to the Cleveland Indians in 1948. By that point, Jackie Robinson had already broken baseball's race barrier but Paige did make history was the oldest rookie to every debut in the MLB at 42 years old.

He came out of retirement for one last game in the majors when he was 59-years-old. He pitched three innings for the Kansas City Athletics. In between his time on the mound, he sat in an over-sized rocking chair and was attended to by a personal nurse. In three innings, he only allowed one hit. 

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