Satchel Paige and Company

Though Satchel Paige lived into the early 1980s, much of our information about his life and especially his career is the stuff of anecdote. He is nevertheless a central figure—arguably the central figure—in our reconstructions of Negro Leagues history. This collection of papers from the 9th Annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference focuses on the celebrity of Satchel Paige and the team he is most closely associated with, the Kansas City Monarchs. Accounts of Paige’s exploits are scrutinized and the effects of his fame, on both the contemporary perception of black baseball and its depiction in the years since, are discussed.

Leslie A. Heaphy is an associate professor of history at Kent State University, Stark Campus, in Canton, Ohio.

Edited by Leslie A. Heaphy
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 308
Bibliographic Info: 34 photos, appendices, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2007
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3075-8
Imprint: McFarland
Series: Jerry Malloy Conference Series

Acknowledgments      v

Introduction      1

PART I: SATCHEL PAIGE

1. Leroy “Satchel” Paige: The Mystique and Milestones of da Man      7

2. Satchel Paige, the Baltimore Black Sox and the Politics of Remembrance      13

3. Satchel: Ruse and Reality      21

4. The Historical Satchel Paige: True Stories and Tales Truly Told      35

5. Cracking a Chink in Jim Crow: Satchel Paige and the Integration of Baseball      54

6. “They’re All Gonna Jump Like That”: Paige as Personality      73

7. Satchel Paige and Hap Dumont: The Dynamic Duo of the National Baseball Congress Tournament      89

PART II: THE KANSAS CITY MONARCHS

8. The Monarchs: A Brief History of the Franchise      99

9. J.L. Wilkinson: “Only the Stars Come Out at Night”      110

10. Tom Baird: A Challenge to the Modern Memory of the Kansas City Monarchs      144

11. Jackie Robinson and the 1945 Monarchs      157

PART III: THE NEGRO LEAGUES AND INTEGRATION

12. Popularity and Perceptions of the Negro Leagues 165

13. Jackie Robinson: The Desegregation of Baseball and the Fight for Civil Rights      179

14. Integration and the Homestead Grays      190

15. “We Can’t Never Lose”: The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings 30 Years Later      198

Appendices      207

Bibliography: Black Baseball in Kansas City      259

About the Contributors      291

Index      295

“a number of strong essays”—Choice; “filled with plenty of solid historical research and writing, and therefore represents the type of book that students of Black baseball should be looking to produce”—Journal of Sport History.