Hump Day History

 

This week's edition is in honor of Black History Month.

On this day in 1971, Satchell Paige became the first African American to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame.  He was inducted in August.

Joe DiMaggio once called Paige, "the best and fastest pitcher I've ever faced."

His fastball was recorded at 98.6 mph, and Paige had many nicknames for his pitch: The Bat Dodger, Thoughtful Stuff, Long Tom, and the Bee Ball.

He joined the Major League in 1948, a year after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.  He played for the Cleveland Guardians (Indians) and became the oldest rookie, at age 42.  Cleveland won the pennant that year.

He retired in 1953 but returned to pitch three games in 1965 for the Kansas City A's, and he became the oldest person to ever play the game, at age 59.

Today's Google Doodle brings our attention to Toni Stone, one of the first three women to play professional baseball full-time, and the first to play as a regular in the Negro American League.

Stone started her career with the San Francisco Sea Lions in 1949, before joining the New Orleans Creoles shortly after.

In 1953, she was signed to the Indianapolis Clowns as a replacement for Hank Aaron, who had just received an offer from the Boston Braves.  She played 50 games and ended the season with a .243 batting average.

Stone has been inducted into the Women's Sports Hall of Fame and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.

In current news, Spring Training should be starting this month but there are talks of that being delayed, pending agreements between MLB and the Players Association.