Satchel Paige, baseball player, 1948-1965

Satchel Paige

⭐ Hall of Fame 1971

Born: 7/7/1906 in Mobile, AL, USA

Died: 6/8/1982 in Kansas City, MO, USA

MLB Debut: 1948-07-09 | Final Game: 1965-09-25

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'3" | Weight: 180 lbs

Full name: Leroy Robert Paige

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Biography

Satchel Paige, born in 1906, was a groundbreaking pitcher whose illustrious career spanned from 1948 to 1965. Known for his charismatic personality and exceptional skills on the mound, Paige became one of the most celebrated figures in baseball history. He finished his Major League Baseball career with a record of 28-31 and an impressive earned run average (ERA) of 3.29. Over the course of his career, he struck out 288 batters and recorded 32 saves, showcasing his ability to dominate opposing hitters. His remarkable talent earned him two All-Star selections, and he was ultimately inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, solidifying his legacy as one of the game's greats. Paige's impact on baseball extended far beyond his statistics; he played a pivotal role in the integration of the sport during a time when racial barriers were prevalent. Before joining the major leagues, he had already established himself in the Negro Leagues, where he was known for his unique pitching style and ability to captivate audiences. His late entry into Major League Baseball, at the age of 42, did not hinder his performance, as he continued to defy age and expectations throughout his career. Satchel Paige remains a symbol of resilience and talent, representing an era of change in baseball and inspiring future generations of players.

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
400.0 384.0 22.0 84.0 8.0 1.0 0 25.0 3.0 12.0 1.0 0.219 0.227 0.245 0.472

Pitching

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
249.0 0 0 207.0 57.0 0 0 0.0 863.0 367.0 119.0 26.0 0 0 0.92

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1927 3.0 3.0 0 1.0 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.333 0.333 0.333 0.666
1930 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1931 3.0 3.0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.333 0.333 0.333 0.666
1932 8.0 8.0 0 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.375 0.375 0.375 0.750
1933 15.0 13.0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0.077 0.143 0.077 0.220
1934 11.0 11.0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.091 0.091 0.091 0.182
1935 15.0 14.0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.071 0.071 0.071 0.142
1936 43.0 42.0 4.0 8.0 1.0 0 0 1.0 0 4.0 0 0.190 0.190 0.214 0.404
1937 7.0 7.0 0 2.0 0 0 0 2.0 0 0 0 0.286 0.286 0.286 0.572
1940 3.0 3.0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.333 0.333 0.333 0.666
1941 35.0 32.0 3.0 8.0 0 0 0 3.0 1.0 4.0 0 0.250 0.294 0.250 0.544
1942 50.0 50.0 2.0 11.0 3.0 0 0 2.0 0 3.0 0 0.220 0.220 0.280 0.500
1943 64.0 62.0 5.0 14.0 2.0 0 0 6.0 0 0 1.0 0.226 0.226 0.258 0.484
1944 46.0 44.0 2.0 8.0 1.0 1.0 0 4.0 1.0 0 0 0.182 0.200 0.250 0.450
1945 31.0 31.0 2.0 11.0 1.0 0 0 2.0 0 0 0 0.355 0.355 0.387 0.742
1946 36.0 34.0 1.0 9.0 0 0 0 2.0 0 1.0 0 0.265 0.265 0.265 0.530
1947 20.0 18.0 0 2.0 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.111 0.111 0.111 0.222
1948 8.0 7.0 1.0 2.0 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.286 0.286 0.286 0.572
1955 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1961 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Season W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
1927 2.0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.0 9.0 6.0 0 2.0 0 0 0.00
1930 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0.00
1931 3.0 0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0.0 5.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0.00
1932 9.0 0 0 2.0 2.0 0 0 0.0 6.0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0.00
1933 11.0 0 0 4.0 4.0 0 0 0.0 25.0 13.0 0 2.0 0 0 0.00
1934 5.0 0 0 5.0 4.0 0 0 0.0 22.0 4.0 2.0 0 0 0 0.43
1935 11.0 0 0 7.0 3.0 0 0 0.0 16.0 6.0 0 0 0 0 0.00
1936 27.0 0 0 16.0 11.0 0 0 0.0 89.0 40.0 16.0 7.0 0 0 1.33
1937 4.0 0 0 3.0 3.0 0 0 0.0 26.0 10.0 8.0 2.0 0 0 2.67
1940 0 0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0.0 3.0 3.0 0 0 0 0 0.00
1941 12.0 0 0 18.0 3.0 0 0 0.0 72.0 25.0 10.0 0 0 0 0.99
1942 31.0 0 0 27.0 6.0 0 0 0.0 112.0 48.0 10.0 3.0 0 0 0.56
1943 39.0 0 0 35.0 4.0 0 0 0.0 155.0 70.0 17.0 2.0 0 0 0.86
1944 27.0 0 0 24.0 7.0 0 0 0.0 92.0 34.0 16.0 0 0 0 1.08
1945 26.0 0 0 17.0 4.0 0 0 0.0 82.0 45.0 11.0 1.0 0 0 0.95
1946 25.0 0 0 26.0 1.0 0 0 0.0 93.0 35.0 22.0 5.0 0 0 1.72
1947 8.0 0 0 12.0 3.0 0 0 0.0 34.0 12.0 2.0 1.0 0 0 0.34
1948 9.0 0 0 5.0 0 0 0 0.0 21.0 12.0 5.0 1.0 0 0 1.96
1955 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
1961 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
143 89 438 226 116 28 47 1962.7 1647 605 66 533 1695 2.77 0

Career ERA 2.77 vs. league average 4.03 across their career seasons — 31.1% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1927 BBB NNL 8 2 21 11 6 3 1 104.7 85 35 30 100 3.01 4.08 (+26%) 3499.2
1928 BBB NNL 11 4 25 15 10 1 4 132.0 113 35 25 121 2.39 4.13 (+42%) 6923.5
1929 BBB NNL 13 9 31 20 15 1 2 202.3 213 97 45 195 4.31 4.60 (+6%) 8719.7
1930 BBS IND 3 1 4 4 3 1 0 27.3 31 11 10 22 3.62 4.80 (+25%) 518.0
1930 BBB NNL 7 2 12 8 7 2 1 73.7 52 21 9 69 2.57 4.80 (+47%) 4644.4
1931 CCU NNL 1 1 5 3 2 1 0 25.3 19 6 4 18 2.13 4.10 (+48%) 486.2
1931 HG IND 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 9.0 11 1 3 4 1.00 4.10 (+76%) 0.0
1932 PC IND 9 6 22 16 12 3 3 130.3 100 33 44 126 2.28 4.13 (+45%) 5868.1
1933 PC NN2 4 5 12 10 8 0 1 78.7 49 17 16 77 1.94 3.86 (+50%) 3924.1
1934 PC NN2 13 3 19 16 15 5 0 145.7 97 26 30 152 1.61 4.29 (+63%) 8716.1
1935 KCM IND 0 0 3 3 1 1 0 14.0 4 0 1 23 0.00 4.35 (+100%) 1484.4
1936 PC NN2 8 2 11 10 7 2 1 71.7 67 30 28 72 3.77 4.59 (+18%) 2109.4
1940 KCM NAL 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 5.0 3 3 3 10 5.40 — 0.0
1941 NBY NN2 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 9.0 5 2 0 8 2.00 3.94 (+49%) 0.0
1941 KCM NAL 7 0 12 11 2 0 0 56.7 47 13 7 48 2.06 3.94 (+48%) 3292.8
1942 KCM NAL 5 5 13 12 5 0 1 76.3 65 19 17 61 2.24 3.57 (+37%) 3651.5
1943 KCM NAL 8 8 26 22 3 0 1 114.3 105 37 30 91 2.91 3.50 (+17%) 4031.1
1943 MRS NAL 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 5.0 0 0 2 7 0.00 — 0.0
1944 KCM NAL 6 4 16 16 6 3 0 98.3 62 11 27 105 1.01 3.57 (+72%) 5467.6
1945 KCM NAL 4 4 10 8 2 1 0 53.3 48 24 15 48 4.05 3.67 (-10%) 2570.6
1946 KCM NAL 4 0 8 7 1 0 0 35.0 24 5 5 32 1.29 3.59 (+64%) 2119.9
1947 KCM NAL 0 2 5 4 1 0 0 19.0 18 5 2 18 2.37 3.97 (+40%) 1361.5
1948 CLE AL 6 1 21 7 3 2 1 72.7 61 20 22 43 2.48 4.10 (+40%) 2225.1
1949 CLE AL 4 7 31 5 1 0 5 83.0 70 28 33 54 3.04 4.12 (+26%) 2223.6
1951 SLA AL 3 4 23 3 0 0 5 62.0 67 33 29 48 4.79 4.04 (-19%) 627.2
1952 SLA AL 12 10 46 6 3 2 10 138.0 116 47 57 91 3.07 3.70 (+17%) 3039.7
1953 SLA AL 3 9 57 4 0 0 11 117.3 114 46 39 51 3.53 4.14 (+15%) 190.1
1965 KC1 AL 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 3.0 1 0 0 1 0.00 — 0.0

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
460 762 58 156 10 8 2 59 8 16 39 0.205 0.222 0.247 0.469 -1284.9

Career AVG .205 vs. league average .269 across their career seasons — 23.9% below league average.

Career OBP .222 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — 33.9% below league average.

Career SLG .247 vs. league average .383 across their career seasons — 35.6% below league average.

Career OPS 0.469 vs. league average 0.719 across their career seasons — 34.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1927 BBB NNL 21 44 3 12 0 2 0 5 0 0 0 0.273 — — — — 0.0
1928 BBB NNL 34 70 10 22 0 3 0 6 1 0 0 0.314 .280 (+12%) .342 (-8%) .395 (+1%) .737 (-3%) -67.8
1929 BBB NNL 36 104 9 18 1 1 1 7 0 1 0 0.173 .289 (-40%) .353 (-49%) .415 (-44%) .769 (-46%) -887.1
1930 BBS IND 5 20 2 4 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 0.200 — — — — 0.0
1930 BBB NNL 14 29 4 10 1 0 0 3 2 2 0 0.345 — — — — 0.0
1931 CCU NNL 5 6 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0.167 — — — — 0.0
1931 HG IND 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1932 PC IND 23 45 5 11 3 0 1 5 0 2 0 0.244 — — — — 0.0
1933 PC NN2 12 27 2 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0.111 — — — — 0.0
1934 PC NN2 20 53 4 11 0 1 0 3 1 1 0 0.208 .278 (-25%) .340 (-35%) .392 (-38%) .733 (-36%) -330.0
1935 KCM IND 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1936 PC NN2 11 32 4 7 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0.219 — — — — 0.0
1940 KCM NAL 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.333 — — — — 0.0
1941 NBY NN2 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.333 — — — — 0.0
1941 KCM NAL 12 27 2 6 0 0 0 3 0 1 4 0.222 — — — — 0.0
1942 KCM NAL 13 32 2 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0.156 — — — — 0.0
1943 KCM NAL 26 46 3 12 1 0 0 3 1 1 1 0.261 — — — — 0.0
1943 MRS NAL 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1944 KCM NAL 16 39 2 7 1 1 0 5 0 1 0 0.179 — — — — 0.0
1945 KCM NAL 11 25 2 9 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 0.360 — — — — 0.0
1946 KCM NAL 8 15 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.200 — — — — 0.0
1947 KCM NAL 7 9 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0.111 — — — — 0.0
1948 CLE AL 21 23 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.087 — — — — 0.0
1949 CLE AL 31 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0.062 — — — — 0.0
1951 SLA AL 23 16 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.125 — — — — 0.0
1952 SLA AL 46 39 0 5 0 0 0 2 0 1 10 0.128 — — — — 0.0
1953 SLA AL 57 29 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 9 0.069 — — — — 0.0
1965 KC1 AL 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
10 14 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.143

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1948 WS CLE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1946 NWS KCM 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.333
1942 NWS KCM 4 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
1927 NNC BBB 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.333

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
3 1 10 3 1 37.3 35 14 7 38 3.38

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1948 WS CLE 0 0 1 0 0 0.7 0 0 0 0 0.00
1946 NWS KCM 1 1 3 0 0 10.0 16 5 1 13 4.50
1942 NWS KCM 2 0 4 2 1 16.3 10 4 4 18 2.20
1927 NNC BBB 0 0 2 1 0 10.3 9 5 2 7 4.35

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 4 1 11 1 0 0
OF 6 4 8 0 2 0
P 438 202 80 418 14 11

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1927 BBB P 21 12 5 31 1 0
1928 BBB 1B 1 1 9 1 0 0
1928 BBB OF 1 1 0 0 1 0
1928 BBB P 25 15 6 33 1 2
1929 BBB OF 3 2 7 0 0 0
1929 BBB P 31 20 1 57 3 2
1930 BBS OF 2 1 1 0 1 0
1930 BBS P 4 4 2 11 0 1
1930 BBB P 12 8 7 13 0 0
1931 CCU P 5 3 3 6 0 0
1931 HG P 1 1 1 4 0 0
1932 PC P 22 16 2 28 0 0
1933 PC 1B 1 0 1 0 0 0
1933 PC P 12 10 4 22 0 0
1934 PC 1B 1 0 1 0 0 0
1934 PC P 19 16 1 27 3 0
1935 KCM P 3 3 1 3 0 0
1936 PC P 11 10 8 12 1 2
1940 KCM P 1 1 0 0 0 0
1941 NBY P 1 1 0 0 0 0
1941 KCM P 12 11 1 18 2 0
1942 KCM P 13 12 2 18 0 0
1943 KCM P 26 22 7 36 1 1
1943 MRS P 1 1 0 0 0 0
1944 KCM 1B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1944 KCM P 16 16 6 17 0 0
1945 KCM P 10 8 3 13 2 0
1946 KCM P 8 7 3 4 0 0
1947 KCM P 5 4 0 3 0 0
1948 CLE P 21 0 2 12 0 0
1949 CLE P 31 0 5 10 0 0
1951 SLA P 23 0 2 5 0 0
1952 SLA P 46 0 5 23 0 2
1953 SLA P 57 0 3 12 0 1
1965 KC1 P 1 1 0 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 438
First Base 4
Left Field 3
Right Field 3

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1952 Most Valuable Player AL 17th 12.0 336 0