p

Satchel Paige

 

A good argument can be made that

he was the greatest pitcher who ever lived and

one of the cornerstones of that argument

 

would be what happened in 1942

when the greatest hitter in Negro League history,

Josh Gibson, faced the greatest pitcher, Satch.

 

Paige was skinny with legs as long as Pine trees

and Gibson had a barrel chest and shoulders

2 yards wide, thickly muscled hams for biceps

 

and his menacing crouch at the plate was feared

by every pitcher in the game save one:  Satchel;

he wanted Josh

 

and in that historic game he

wanted him bad enough that he

walked 2 men to fill the bases so he

 

could pitch to Josh and then

he called out to the greatest hitter in baseball

exactly what he was going to throw and

 

struck Gibson out

on 3 straight

pitches;

 

a good argument

can be made and

that was Satchel’s argument.

 

            redhawk