The Clowns: The last of baseball’s barnstormers, Part 3
Lead Summary
By
Steve Roush-
“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?” – Satchel Paige (1906-82)
Ladies and gentlemen, the famous and quotable pitcher also said, “Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
Satchel Paige, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, began his professional career in 1926, playing in the Negro Leagues from 1926-47. He pitched for the Cleveland Indians from 1948-49, became the first African-American to pitch in the World Series in ’48 (the Tribe’s last championship season), then spent three seasons with the St. Louis Browns from 1951-53, where he was a two-time All-Star.
In 1965 at the age of 59, Paige returned to the majors in a one-game stint with the Kansas City Athletics. He tossed three shutout innings while becoming the oldest player in major league history.
That might have been Paige’s last hurrah in the majors, but he didn’t stop playing baseball. In fact, he once said, “I ain’t ever had a job, I’ve just always played baseball.”
In 1967, the ageless wonder pitched for the Indianapolis Clowns. He was managed by Hubert “Big Daddy” Wooten, who I interviewed more than a decade ago at Wooten’s home in Goldsboro, N.C.
Big Daddy Wooten played four seasons for the Clowns from 1965-68. During his final two seasons, Wooten served as player/manager of the team. When I chatted with him, Wooten talked about managing Paige.
Leroy “Satchel” Page’s birthday is often listed as July 7, 1906 – which would have made Paige 61 in 1967 (the age Wooten was when I interviewed him in 2006) – but no one really knew for sure.
Not even Daddy Wooten.
"I asked him one time, ‘Satch, how old are you?’ And he said, ‘I'm a good way from 100, but I'm older than 75,'" Wooten recalled.
"He wouldn't tell me."
But no matter how old Paige was, the man could still play. Paige always had a simple philosophy when it came to pitching: “Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don’t move.” And perhaps even more importantly, “You gotta keep the ball off of the fat part of the bat.”
It’s been written that the allure of Satchel Paige lies in the mystery: Was it real or was it a myth? Paige himself claimed to have pitched around 2,500 games in his life, with at least 50 no-hitters, and estimated that around 10 million people saw him play. The numbers seem inconceivable until one recalls that Paige pitched for more than 40 years – often year-round.
In 1967 with the Clowns, Paige was still getting outs in his 60s.
“He could still throw the ball," Daddy Wooten said. "We were at old Comiskey Park and he told me to get behind the plate and a photographer was standing behind me. He was throwing strikes on the corner and the man said, ‘Can you believe his eyesight is that good to see this far?’ I said, ‘That old man never ceases to amaze me.’
“He had a pretty good fastball still, he could throw the scrooge and he showed that hesitation pitch he was famous for. And he was very knowledgeable about the game, he'd try to help you – and that was the good thing about him.”
Satch had respect for his young manager, too.
“My problem was they were saying I wasn't tall enough," said Wooten, who was 5-foot-8. "Matter of fact, Satch told me one time, 'I'll tell you what, if you had been about 6-feet tall with your power, your speed and your arm, there's no way in the world you'd be out here (with the Clowns), you'd be gone. The only thing you weren't gifted with was height.’"
Paige even compared Big Daddy Wooten with another Negro League legend and a Hall of Famer.
“Another time, Satch and I were sitting on the bus, he took his teeth out and he said, 'Boy, let me tell you something, you are built about like Josh Gibson was,'" Wooten said. "He said, 'But you ain’t going to hit as hard as he did.'"
Paige passed away June 8, 1982, a month before his 76th birthday. Daddy Wooten said Satch was one of a kind. Joe DiMaggio said that Paige was the best he ever saw. Dizzy Dean said that Paige's fastball made his own look like a change-up.
Hall of Famer Cool Papa Bell said Paige made his living by throwing a ball to the spot over the pate the size of a matchbook.
Paige wouldn’t have disagreed with any of that, as he once said, “There never was a man on earth who pitched as much as me. But the more I pitched, the stronger my arm would get."
And even in his 60s – back in the 60s – he was still going strong, always the showman.
"I use my single windup, my double windup, my triple windup, my hesitation windup, my no windup,” Paige said. “I also use my step-n-pitch-it, my submariner, my sidearmer and my bat dodger. Man's got to do what he's got to do."
And for more than four decades, Satchel Paige did just that – and then some.
Steve Roush is a vice president of an international media company and a columnist and contributing writer for The Highland County Press.
Ladies and gentlemen, the famous and quotable pitcher also said, “Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
Satchel Paige, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, began his professional career in 1926, playing in the Negro Leagues from 1926-47. He pitched for the Cleveland Indians from 1948-49, became the first African-American to pitch in the World Series in ’48 (the Tribe’s last championship season), then spent three seasons with the St. Louis Browns from 1951-53, where he was a two-time All-Star.
In 1965 at the age of 59, Paige returned to the majors in a one-game stint with the Kansas City Athletics. He tossed three shutout innings while becoming the oldest player in major league history.
That might have been Paige’s last hurrah in the majors, but he didn’t stop playing baseball. In fact, he once said, “I ain’t ever had a job, I’ve just always played baseball.”
In 1967, the ageless wonder pitched for the Indianapolis Clowns. He was managed by Hubert “Big Daddy” Wooten, who I interviewed more than a decade ago at Wooten’s home in Goldsboro, N.C.
Big Daddy Wooten played four seasons for the Clowns from 1965-68. During his final two seasons, Wooten served as player/manager of the team. When I chatted with him, Wooten talked about managing Paige.
Leroy “Satchel” Page’s birthday is often listed as July 7, 1906 – which would have made Paige 61 in 1967 (the age Wooten was when I interviewed him in 2006) – but no one really knew for sure.
Not even Daddy Wooten.
"I asked him one time, ‘Satch, how old are you?’ And he said, ‘I'm a good way from 100, but I'm older than 75,'" Wooten recalled.
"He wouldn't tell me."
But no matter how old Paige was, the man could still play. Paige always had a simple philosophy when it came to pitching: “Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don’t move.” And perhaps even more importantly, “You gotta keep the ball off of the fat part of the bat.”
It’s been written that the allure of Satchel Paige lies in the mystery: Was it real or was it a myth? Paige himself claimed to have pitched around 2,500 games in his life, with at least 50 no-hitters, and estimated that around 10 million people saw him play. The numbers seem inconceivable until one recalls that Paige pitched for more than 40 years – often year-round.
In 1967 with the Clowns, Paige was still getting outs in his 60s.
“He could still throw the ball," Daddy Wooten said. "We were at old Comiskey Park and he told me to get behind the plate and a photographer was standing behind me. He was throwing strikes on the corner and the man said, ‘Can you believe his eyesight is that good to see this far?’ I said, ‘That old man never ceases to amaze me.’
“He had a pretty good fastball still, he could throw the scrooge and he showed that hesitation pitch he was famous for. And he was very knowledgeable about the game, he'd try to help you – and that was the good thing about him.”
Satch had respect for his young manager, too.
“My problem was they were saying I wasn't tall enough," said Wooten, who was 5-foot-8. "Matter of fact, Satch told me one time, 'I'll tell you what, if you had been about 6-feet tall with your power, your speed and your arm, there's no way in the world you'd be out here (with the Clowns), you'd be gone. The only thing you weren't gifted with was height.’"
Paige even compared Big Daddy Wooten with another Negro League legend and a Hall of Famer.
“Another time, Satch and I were sitting on the bus, he took his teeth out and he said, 'Boy, let me tell you something, you are built about like Josh Gibson was,'" Wooten said. "He said, 'But you ain’t going to hit as hard as he did.'"
Paige passed away June 8, 1982, a month before his 76th birthday. Daddy Wooten said Satch was one of a kind. Joe DiMaggio said that Paige was the best he ever saw. Dizzy Dean said that Paige's fastball made his own look like a change-up.
Hall of Famer Cool Papa Bell said Paige made his living by throwing a ball to the spot over the pate the size of a matchbook.
Paige wouldn’t have disagreed with any of that, as he once said, “There never was a man on earth who pitched as much as me. But the more I pitched, the stronger my arm would get."
And even in his 60s – back in the 60s – he was still going strong, always the showman.
"I use my single windup, my double windup, my triple windup, my hesitation windup, my no windup,” Paige said. “I also use my step-n-pitch-it, my submariner, my sidearmer and my bat dodger. Man's got to do what he's got to do."
And for more than four decades, Satchel Paige did just that – and then some.
Steve Roush is a vice president of an international media company and a columnist and contributing writer for The Highland County Press.