Paige Strikes Out 17.

Paige Strikes Out 17. The following account describes a famous exhibition game encounter in 1934 between two of the best pitchers of their day: Satchel Paige, who was then playing in the Negro Leagues, and Dizzy Dean, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. . Paige Strikes Out 17 Satchel Paige and Dizzy Dean had several things in common. Both were tall, lanky Southerners from poor families. Both taught themselves how to pitch, befuddling opposing hitters with a blazing fast ball and pinpoint control. Both entertained fans with down-home wit and ungrammatical philosophizing. "Bases on balls is the curse of the nation," Paige once said, according to Don't Look Back, a biography of the pitcher by Mark Ribowsky. At their peak in the 1930s, Paige and Dean were thought to be the finest hurlers around, an opinion neither disputed. "If me and Satch were together ... we would clinch the pennant by July and go fishing from then until World Series time," Dean once said. But there was at least one major difference. White, Dean played in the major leagues. Black, Paige did not. Although Paige wasn't allowed in the major leagues until after Dean retired, Paige nevertheless faced his counterpart on several occasions. Dean and Paige crossed barnstorming paths while both were leading exhibition squads in the off-season. Their most famous meeting occurred in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, when Dean and a group of major league players faced Paige and a roster of players from the Negro Leagues. For Paige, the meeting had special significance. Undoubtedly the best pitcher in the Negro Leagues, he wanted to prove that he could defeat major leaguers. The game, played before 18,000 fans, was ignored by the national media. Rarely have two finer pitchers engaged in a tighter duel. The game lasted 13 innings. Dean recorded 15 strikeouts, Paige fanned 17. Although many of the teams for which he played didn't keep complete records, there is ample evidence to show that Paige was one of the finest pitchers ever. He certainly was the most durable. He once calculated that, in a career spanning five decades, he pitched in roughly 2500 games, winning 2000 of them. In his prime he often pitched both ends of a doubleheader. He was on several pennant-winning teams in the Negro Leagues and twice was the winning pitcher in the Negro Leagues' East-West All-Star contest. After the color barrier was broken in baseball, Paige joined the Cleveland Indians at age 42, compiling a 6-1 win-loss record that season. Just before his 60th birthday he pitched one inning of shutout ball in the American League. After the 1934 season Dean, the reigning star in the majors, put together a two-month tour in which he led a squad of mostly untried semipro players against black teams. Dean discovered, as Paige no doubt was already aware, that the exhibition circuit was financially rewarding, particularly in games pitting blacks against whites. In Cleveland, Ohio, Dean's team lost to a black All-Star team led by Paige, who struck out 13 batters. Later, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Paige pitched relief as the black team again defeated Dean's. Dean took his squad to California to participate in winter league ball and picked up the services of several major leaguers in the area, adding considerable strength to the team's lineup. Paige was on his honeymoon in Los Angeles when he teamed up with a black All-Star team, known as the Philadelphia Giants, against Dean and his crew. The contest received much local publicity. California had no major league teams at the time and was hungry for high-caliber play. Played in early November, the contest sold out Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. The game didn't attract much attention outside of the city, however. Both pitchers hurled brags as well as pitches. Dean told a reporter before the game that while Paige had a mean fast ball, his curve was weak. In Dean's first at bat, according to Ribowsky, Paige yelled, "I hear you're goin' around tellin' people I ain't got no curve. Well, then, you tell me what this is." He struck out Dean on three curves. Paige surrendered only two hits in 13 innings that day, both to Wally Berger of the Boston Braves, who hit .298 in the majors that year. Berger smashed one of Paige's pitches off the center field wall. In Ribowsky's account, Paige followed Berger to second base, yelling "How'd you hit that one?" Paige, however, was not about to give up a run. He struck out the next three batters, Dolph Camilli, Frank Demaree (who hit .325 in the majors in 1935), and Gene Lillard. Dean fared almost as well against such Negro League stars as James "Cool Papa" Bell and Willie Wells. Dean shut down the team of talented black players for 12 innings until he gave up a run in the 13th inning. Paige earned an impressive and satisfying win, going 13 innings without a run. It seemed he could have pitched forever. Paige's team won, 1-0. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.