“A new classic baseball book” (Library Journal): the story of how Satchel Paige, Dizzy Dean, and Bob Feller introduced integrated baseball to America.
Before Jackie Robinson integrated major league baseball in 1947, black and white ballplayers had been playing against one another for decades—even, on rare occasions, playing with each other. Interracial contests took place during the off-season, when major leaguers and Negro Leaguers alike fattened their wallets by playing exhibitions in cities and towns across America. These barnstorming tours reached new heights, however, when Satchel Paige and other African-American stars took on white teams headlined by the irrepressible Dizzy Dean. Lippy and funny, a born showman, the native Arkansan saw no reason why he shouldn’t pitch against Negro Leaguers. Paige, who feared no one and chased a buck harder than any player alive, instantly recognized the box-office appeal of competing against Dizzy Dean’s “All-Stars.” Paige and Dean both featured soaring leg kicks and loved to mimic each other’s style to amuse fans. Skin color aside, the dirt-poor Southern pitchers had much in common.
Historian Timothy M. Gay has unearthed long-forgotten exhibitions where Paige and Dean dueled, and he tells the story of their pioneering escapades in this engaging book. Long before they ever heard of Robinson or Larry Doby, baseball fans from Brooklyn to Enid, Oklahoma, watched black and white players battle on the same diamond. With such Hall of Fame teammates as Josh Gibson, Turkey Stearnes, Mule Suttles, Oscar Charleston, Cool Papa Bell, and Bullet Joe Rogan, Paige often had the upper hand against Diz. After arm troubles sidelined Dean, a new pitching phenom, Bob Feller—Rapid Robert—assembled his own teams to face Paige and other blackballers. By the time Paige became Feller’s teammate on the Cleveland Indians in 1948, a rookie at age forty-two, Satch and Feller had barnstormed against each other for more than a decade.
These often obscure contests helped hasten the end of Jim Crow baseball, paving the way for the game’s integration. Satchel Paige, Dizzy Dean, and Bob Feller never set out to make social history—but that’s precisely what happened. Tim Gay has brought this era to vivid and colorful life in a book that every baseball fan will embrace.
- Author: Timothy M. Gay
- Paperback: 368 pages
- Published: March, 2011
- Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.4 inches
The flamboyant ace of the Depression-era St. Louis Cardinals, Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean led the raucous “Gashouse Gang” to a World Series championship in 1934. In doing so, he remains the last National League pitcher with 30 wins in a season. Given to self-assured boasting, Dean was fond of saying: “If you can do it, it ain’t braggin’.” After a broken toe suffered in the 1937 All-Star Game led to injuries that slowly halted his pitching career, Dean became a legendary broadcaster known for twisting the English language while winning generations of fans on radio and television.
When Bob Feller said of his pitching, “I just reared back and let them go,” he accurately described his blazing fastball. “Rapid Robert” set the standard for generations of future fireballers. During his 18-year career, spent entirely with the Cleveland Indians, Feller amassed 266 victories, leading the league in wins six times and strikeouts seven. After enlisting in the Navy in 1941, Feller missed nearly four full seasons to serve the country. As a Navy gun captain, he earned five campaign ribbons studded with eight battle stars. Feller authored three no-hitters and 12 one-hitters, winning 20 or more games six times.
Leroy “Satchel” Paige was one of the most entertaining pitchers in baseball history. A tall, lanky fireballer, he was arguably the hardest thrower in the Negro leagues, as well as one of its greatest gate attractions. James “Cool Papa” Bell once declared, “He made his living by throwing the ball to a spot over the plate the size of a matchbook.” In the 1930s, Paige barnstormed around the continent, baffling hitters with creatively named pitches like the “Bat Dodger” and “Hesitation Pitch.” In 1948, on his 42nd birthday, Paige’s contract was sold to the Cleveland Indians, making him the oldest player to debut in the major leagues.
“A new classic baseball book” (Library Journal): the story of how Satchel Paige, Dizzy Dean, and Bob Feller introduced integrated baseball to America.
Before Jackie Robinson integrated major league baseball in 1947, black and white ballplayers had been playing against one another for decades—even, on rare occasions, playing with each other. Interracial contests took place during the off-season, when major leaguers and Negro Leaguers alike fattened their wallets by playing exhibitions in cities and towns across America. These barnstorming tours reached new heights, however, when Satchel Paige and other African-American stars took on white teams headlined by the irrepressible Dizzy Dean. Lippy and funny, a born showman, the native Arkansan saw no reason why he shouldn’t pitch against Negro Leaguers. Paige, who feared no one and chased a buck harder than any player alive, instantly recognized the box-office appeal of competing against Dizzy Dean’s “All-Stars.” Paige and Dean both featured soaring leg kicks and loved to mimic each other’s style to amuse fans. Skin color aside, the dirt-poor Southern pitchers had much in common.
Historian Timothy M. Gay has unearthed long-forgotten exhibitions where Paige and Dean dueled, and he tells the story of their pioneering escapades in this engaging book. Long before they ever heard of Robinson or Larry Doby, baseball fans from Brooklyn to Enid, Oklahoma, watched black and white players battle on the same diamond. With such Hall of Fame teammates as Josh Gibson, Turkey Stearnes, Mule Suttles, Oscar Charleston, Cool Papa Bell, and Bullet Joe Rogan, Paige often had the upper hand against Diz. After arm troubles sidelined Dean, a new pitching phenom, Bob Feller—Rapid Robert—assembled his own teams to face Paige and other blackballers. By the time Paige became Feller’s teammate on the Cleveland Indians in 1948, a rookie at age forty-two, Satch and Feller had barnstormed against each other for more than a decade.
These often obscure contests helped hasten the end of Jim Crow baseball, paving the way for the game’s integration. Satchel Paige, Dizzy Dean, and Bob Feller never set out to make social history—but that’s precisely what happened. Tim Gay has brought this era to vivid and colorful life in a book that every baseball fan will embrace.
- Author: Timothy M. Gay
- Paperback: 368 pages
- Published: March, 2011
- Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.4 inches
The flamboyant ace of the Depression-era St. Louis Cardinals, Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean led the raucous “Gashouse Gang” to a World Series championship in 1934. In doing so, he remains the last National League pitcher with 30 wins in a season. Given to self-assured boasting, Dean was fond of saying: “If you can do it, it ain’t braggin’.” After a broken toe suffered in the 1937 All-Star Game led to injuries that slowly halted his pitching career, Dean became a legendary broadcaster known for twisting the English language while winning generations of fans on radio and television.
When Bob Feller said of his pitching, “I just reared back and let them go,” he accurately described his blazing fastball. “Rapid Robert” set the standard for generations of future fireballers. During his 18-year career, spent entirely with the Cleveland Indians, Feller amassed 266 victories, leading the league in wins six times and strikeouts seven. After enlisting in the Navy in 1941, Feller missed nearly four full seasons to serve the country. As a Navy gun captain, he earned five campaign ribbons studded with eight battle stars. Feller authored three no-hitters and 12 one-hitters, winning 20 or more games six times.
Leroy “Satchel” Paige was one of the most entertaining pitchers in baseball history. A tall, lanky fireballer, he was arguably the hardest thrower in the Negro leagues, as well as one of its greatest gate attractions. James “Cool Papa” Bell once declared, “He made his living by throwing the ball to a spot over the plate the size of a matchbook.” In the 1930s, Paige barnstormed around the continent, baffling hitters with creatively named pitches like the “Bat Dodger” and “Hesitation Pitch.” In 1948, on his 42nd birthday, Paige’s contract was sold to the Cleveland Indians, making him the oldest player to debut in the major leagues.
