Baseball and rhethe rethinking the Civil Rights Movement. Let me start out with a confession to you. As long as ive been teaching the Civil Rights Movement, it didnt make sense to me. V a im a baby boomer. I was born at the end of world war ii. I came of age if the 1950s and 1960s, so why does a historian present something current . My mind changed in 2001. Let me tell you what happened in 2001. I had the great privilege to serve as moderator for a session on pastime, baseball is history at the organization for american historians. And the session was focusing on judec tyjeels new book. We had a great panel with stanley cutler, james marin from Princeton University and jewels augusty from San Francisco state, and then our surprise anchorperson, sharon robbins, head and founder of jackies 9 and the daughter of Jackie Robinson. And we had a great session. It was well attended. At the end of the session, i had the chance to chat with Sharon Robinson. And we were both concerned about a fairly recent news article that had a star baseball player of color, right, who in the interview it was mentioned to him something to the effect of, well, i guess youre really thank goodness for Jackie Robinson. And the player said, who is Jackie Robinson . And what became very clear to us was that many of the Major League Baseball players did not know who Jackie Robinson was. So not just them, but the public as well. So Sharon Robinson said she was going to do something about it, and she did. She met with the baseball commissioner, bud seely, who is still commissioner, and they came up with an idea. And that idea is Jackie Robinson day, which occurs every april 15th, which was the day jackie came up, played in brooklyn in his first game, april 15. The third Jackie Robinson day was 2004, so this year we will celebrate the te10th anniversar of Jackie Robinson day. So i thought i had to teach that relate to do that movement. If Jackie Robinson were here, i have no doubt that he would come to this podium and tell you the history for that great day for him did not begin then, that you have to look back to the great ball players that came long before Jackie Robinson. And he would say, Moses Fleetwood walker, the first black in Major League Baseball, in fact, in 1884. And he said in paving the way, leading the way for me, Jackie Robinson would say you have to understand the great players of the negro leagues and especially the king of the negro leagues, leroy robert Satchel Paige, none other than Satchel Paige. You have to understand him because he paved the way. Many would say Satchel Paige was the worlds greatest pitcher. I certainly agree with that. Some of the testimonials. Joe dimaggio, when he was first starting out and he was playing against black ball players in the California Winter League, and this happened. White players and black players out there in california. And he got a hit on Satchel Paige. When he got back to his teammates, he told them, now i know im ready for the major leagues because i got a hit on Satchel Paige. And the great dimaggio, at the end of his career without hesitation, when he was asked who was the greatest pitcher you ever faced, he said Satchel Paige. By far, i think, the big pitcher over Satchel Paige, barnes storming through the west and the plains. Dizzy dean said of Satchel Paige, dean was known for his fastball. He said, my fastball looks like a change of pace next to that bullet of satchels. Dean went on a Radio Program and said, i dont know why they keep these colored boys out of the majors. Because if me and satchel were on the same team, we would have the pennant won by the fourth of july and go fishing in world series time. Bill vett, who i think is the most influential leader in Major League Baseball, owner of the cleveland indians, st. Louis browns and the white sox. Bill vett put it this way, he made the point numerous times. Quote, if Satchel Paige had been allowed to play in the majors a and in his prime, today the cy young award would be known as the Satchel Paige award. What made Satchel Paige so special . I interviewed bunches of negros who said the same thing. He was an extraordinary entertainer. Black ball itself was very different than major league ball. Negro League Baseball was played at a faster pace, more daring, more base stealing. Why would you throw somebody out straight and overhand if you can throw it behind your head, around your back, through your legs. One ball was thrown to Satchel Paige pitching. He caught the ball, bent over and dusted off his shoe with his glove and threw it underhand to get the out. The fans loved that kind of bravado. You had that all the time in negro League Baseball. The stunting, the gags, the people in the outer field doing the cake walk, et cetera. Shadow ball where very often they would start a game playing imaginary baseball. When somebody is pitching, there is no real baseball. When somebody is hitting, fielding, theres no real baseball. No baseball. And in the end it ends up in an arc at the plate. The fans loved this. This is when baseball was king by far. Satchel paige played to the fans. Also the longevity on the mound. Paige would play for four decades. Another factor making him great was his ability to negotiate with the media. He was a darling of the media. One of the reasons for that is because he always made for good copy. Homespun philosopher. He had all these great sayings, many of whom we hear today as part of the american vernacilum. Dont look back, something might be gaining on you. One of my favorites as i get more and more gray hair. Satchel paige said age is a matter of mind over matter. If you dont mind, it dont matter. Another one that he used, which ive used for certain academics and used a Satchel Paigeism. Satchel would say, its not what you dont know that hurts you, its what you know that just aint so. He had that kind of mind despite a fourth grade education. What he also gave to the public and to the press, he named his pitches. Bad dodger, hesitation pitch, boo ball. He was a notorious trash talk out of that african tradition. Why are you bringing that bat up to the plate . It aint nothing but wood. He loved to make those kinds of statements about my greatness, his greatness on the mound. And the fans loved that. He more than once at the understand of the inning. Absolutely incredible. More than once. If anybody did that, it would have been a home run. And it was always Satchel Paige to the rescue. Theres a classic showdown between him and josh gibson. Gibson is the greatest hitter in the negro baseball league. Whites call him josh gibson, the black babe ruth. Black folks say, no, babe ruth is the white josh gibson. There was a game in forbes field, pittsburgh, who was playing for the home state grays against the chicago American Giants. They were doing a series. He hit a home run. Center field home run that when it cleared center field, it was still going up. And up. And people watched it fade away out in the distance. They foregood to even applaud as hes going around the bases. Theyre asking themselves what planet is this guy from . As the story goes, three days later they were finishing up the series in chicago. This time both teams were on the field, you know, doing some exercises. One of the chicago American Giants players heard a fan yell out, theres a ball coming. He looked up. A ball was falling. He caught the ball. What was going on . There was an umpire standing next to him. Hes looking. Theyre looking at each other. What . And the umpire looks around and he sees gosh gibson over there talking to someone. Looks at the ball. Looks at gibson. Then finally he makes a decision. He yells over at him, gibson, youre you, josh gibson. Youre out. In pittsburgh. Three days garrigues. I know thats admittedly an exaggeration of his hitting ability, but he get the point. Satchel paige in this game in 42 intentionally loads the bases so he can pitch to gibson. People said there was an absolute madness. John brook oneil playing first base and one of the managers for monarchs who told me the details of the story said he called me over and said, you know what im going to do . Ive got to do this. We have to settle this thing once in for all between josh and me. Josh is no doubted the worlds greatest hitter. Im the worlds greatest pitcher. We have to settle this. Whos the best . So josh gibson came to the plate. You can imagine what this did to the fans. Theyre hysterical. They can see exactly whats going on. Paige has loaded the bases so for the final out he can pitch against the deadliest hitter in negro League Baseball. As i got the details of it, hes calling the pitches and telling josh what comes next. He tells them, josh, first one will be a fastball on the outside. Its coming so fast, theres nothing you can do about it. Oomph, strike one. Then tells him where the second ones coming. Second one will be a fastball on the inside. It will look a little low but it will be fine. But there is nothing you can do about it because it would be faster than the other one. Strike two. And then he told him for the third one, he said, im not going to tell you where its going because youre a great hitter and you could get lucky but ill tell you this, it will be a whole lot faster than the other two. Strike three. Struck him out. Gibson throws down his bat, goes off the field and paige stroves off the field leisurely with the fans going wild. He doesnt tip his hat or anything. Just looks ahead. And the fans even get louder behind that. He was too cool to take a bow. That was Satchel Paige, the daring, the putting it on the line, et cetera. Many will remember him for his greatness on the mound, yes. They will remember him as the oldest rookie in Major League Baseball when he comes in and plays for cleveland. Hes 42 years of age in 1948. Hes the first africanamerican to start a game as pitcher. And when he started, he set the alltime attendance record for a night baseball game. Over 72,000 fans. And a couple weeks later when he started again, he broke that record because of 78,000 fans in attendance. 10,000 to 15,000 couldnt get in to the ballpark. Many will recall him as the oldest player in Major League Game at age 59, in 1965, he pitched three innings. He was, indeed, the first player from the negro leagues inducted into the National Baseball hall of fame in 1971. Thats the plaque inside there. On the left. And on the right, its a statue of Satchel Paige doing a high kick. Many pitchers in that era back then would do a high kick, particularly scoring a fastball. That statue of him in the courtyard at National Baseball hall of fame that was dedicated in 2006. Hes a community and can cultural icon. I wanted you to seat mural in the background. That mural was painted by an anonymous artist there in kansas city, missouri. Right off vine street, which was like the street in black missouri. And in the front there, you have a portrait of Satchel Paige. Thats him in front. To his right is his wife lahoma jean paige. Holding the portrait is his daughter and his son robert paige. I asked them for a copy picture of the portrait itself. They did me one better by giving me a shot of them and everybody else in front of this great mural. He was a community icon. But Satchel Paige was much more than that, than all of that. When you place him in Historical Context and appreciate his contribution to baseball and the africanamerican struggle for equal rights. I want to talk a minute about the making of Satchel Paige. I think to understand any person and what they later become, i always like to start with their childhood to see if you cant pick up clues there. He had a very interesting, shall we say, childhood . Born in 1906 in mobile, alabama, family of 12, dirt poor. He was scrounging all of his life. He stashtd scrounrted scroungin was 5 years old, particularly trying to find discarded bottles, taking them in for the deposit on them. And then bringing home game. Rabbit, squirrels, birds, visavis throwing rocks. He had that ability to throw rocks. An uncanny accuracy and speed. By age 9 hes regularly bringing home small game just with a handful of rocks. As he gets a little older he hustles constantly at the l n depot. The louisville to nashville depot there in mobile, carrying bags, carrying satchels. Thats where he gets his nickname, satchel. Satchel paige. In a sense, though, you think hes born to defy. Hes always at othds with his environment there in the jim crow south. As a result of this its not that hes rebellious against his mother, his father in that regard. Hes just rebellious and upset about his environment, his life, his restrictions. And he gets whoopings all the time. I didnt saywhippings. I didnt say lickings. He got whoopings. He got those all the time. His mother would say, go fetch me a switch. What that meant in the south was go out and bring back a tree branch. Tree branch and it was used for a licking. And he would hear that constantly. Go and fetch me a switch. Go and fetch me a switch. And he said this, looking back at his childhood, can you read it there for yourself. I used to think she, his mother, lula paige, hit me because she didnt know how i felt. She didnt know how i was when they told me i couldnt swim where the white folks did. Then i realized maybe she did. She must have been chased away from the white mans swimming places. She must have got run off from the white mans stores and stands for just looking hungry at a fish. She must have heard those men yelling, get out of here, you no good nigger. She must have heard it. I guess she learned to live with it. And he did not learn to live with. Satchel paige becomes your quintessential bad negro as defined in the south. The most vivid example of that are the rock wars he engages in. Many people say he ends. Being sent to Reform School because he sold trinkets at a little store. Thats absolute nonsense. What happened is Satchel Paige was building a reputation as a bad negro because these rock wars. He attended the allblack school but not far from it was the allwhite school, the Oakdale School. Whenever he and his friends would walk close to there, the white students, the white boys would start throwing rocks at him. So, this went on for several occasions. Then finally paige and his buddy started throwing back and the rock wars were on. They actually started in 1917 and continue on until the spring of 1918 because prior to that in these rock wars, paige had he would hit you. He was deadly accurate, but he would hit you in a lower part of your body and legs, so forth, not try and hit you in the head. That all changed spring 1918. He and his buddies were going walking past again the Oakdale School and a bunch of white boys open up on them with rocks. They are fighting back and forth and reinforcements come in to the other side. Paige and his buddies take off running, right, with the others pursuing behind him. One of his friends is hit in the head and goes down. Its at that point with his other friend trying to help him up that paige turns around, picks up rocks and starts throwing them. Hes throwing them and hitting people but hitting them low, et cetera, but is not stopping them. Its at that point he begins to throw with full force and utterly bad intentions. And hes deadly accurate. Hitting people dead in the head. Some who see the accuracy of the throws, they take flight, hide behind something. Others are brave, stand your ground. They pay the price with that wrong decision. Still others when they saw him getting ready to throw, tried ducking. Paige learned how to hold his throw. In fact, he tells us later on, thats where he developed his hesitation pitch. In these rock wars, et cetera, and then it would be dead on. Many kids that left that day with big knots on their heads. Lucky someone didnt get their eye knocked out. But even more lucky is that they didnt go home and complain to their parents, because this could have been really disastrous. This is an absolute nono in the jim crow south. Paige is not only putting himself at risk, hes putting the entire Africanamerican Community at risk. This would not be the first time based on a whim or misinformation or someone fighting back that an entire community is laid waste. So, hes putting the community at risk. In the end, hes brought before the authorities and it is decided that he will be sent to Reform School. Everyone thinks the man behind this is jeff crenshaw, the sheriff on record who said, if an negro is old enough to walk, hes old enough to go to jail. Crenshaw meant that. Alabama had a very fierce, terrible histo