KANSAS CITY, Mo. — To the Paige family, Leroy Robert Paige was always just dad.
But from the way three of his daughters, Linda, Carolyn, and Pamela, light up when they talk about him, he was one of the best.
He also was one of best pitchers in any league he ever played in.
Linda Paige-Shelby remembers going to baseball games as a kid and being asked who her father was.
"Who is your father? And I said, 'He's the only black man out there,'" she said.
Leroy, or as he's better known, Satchel Paige, was a force on the mound.
He was the first black pitcher to play in the American League and the seventh black player to play in the major leagues.
He played his last major league game at age 59, and that's still a record, just one of many he chalked up.
"There was always two major leagues, one was black, one was white," Linda said.
Records from the games Paige's pitched had always been kept by the Negro Leagues, but they weren't included in the major league baseball books until yesterday.
"It just give validity to what they've already said," Linda said. "They've told us this for years and years and years. And now here it is in black and white, but it's not anything new that the black community had not heard."
Having her dad's records and his memory validated in this way matters to her.
"We didn't even think we would see it in our lifetime," she said. "The families appreciate it. It wasn't just about the stats, it was about righting a terrible wrong."
This was always the Satchel they knew. This was always what he'd earned , but it feels good to set the record straight.
"When they announced it, it's a big deal for the families. It's a big deal for baseball, but it's a bigger deal for the families," Linda said. "Because now they get the recognition and now they have the stats to prove it."
