"There is no question that Satchel Paige was one of the marvels of the century," wrote Robert Smith in Pioneers of Baseball. "When he still enjoyed all his youthful strength, Leroy Satchel Paige may well have been the fastest pitcher in the nation, or even in history. It was said that when he really poured a baseball in to the plate with his full strength, it might tear the glove off the catcher."
Satchel Paige was born Leroy Robert Paige on July 7, 1906, in Mobile, Alabama. The seventh of eleven children of John and Lula Paige, he grew up poor and needy in the segregated South. He spent his childhood days tossing rocks at tin cans and anything that moved, even--occasionally--people. At the tender age of seven, Paige went to work at the Mobile train station, earning tips for carrying travelers' luggage. Reader's Digest correspondent John O'Neil noted that the enterprising youngster "fixed up a rig so he could carry more bags than any other kid, thus earning the name 'Satchel Tree.'" The nickname, a bit shortened, stuck into adulthood.
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