Satchel Paige
Leroy "Satchel" Paige was a pitcher from the Negro Leagues who was also signed by the Indians. Despite his seemingly awakward delivery, Paige may have very well been one of the best pitches of all time. He could throw with superhuman velocity and uncommon accuracy. On July 7, 1948, Paige joined the Cleveland Indians. By then, he was past his prime pitching years, but he still had unnatural deception abilities. In the 1948 season, Paige posted a record of 6-1, with a 2.48 earned run average, which was the second best on the team. In all, Paige played eleven years of baseball intermittenly. He pitched in 179 games, and totaled up 476 innings pitched. His record for his career in the majors was 28-31. He struck out 290, and gave up 429 hits, 183 walks, and had a lifetime ERA iof 3.29. In 1971, he was elected to the Hall of Fame. If the color barrier had been broken earlier, there is no telling what a Satchel Paige in his prime might have looked like in the major leagues. Even when he was older and threw with slightly less heat, Paige still brought huge crowds of people to see him play. In an exhibition game against Brooklyn, 64,877 fans jammed into the stadium to see the mythical pitcher. On August 3, 1948, Paige made his first professional start against the Washington Senators. 72, 434 people came to see Paige dominate for seven innings as the Indians won, 7-3. On August 20 of the same year, 78, 382 fans packed themselves into the Indians' stadium. Paige did not disappoint them. He threw a three-hitter, completing his second straight shut-out. Paige's enormous popularity helped to melt away the racism that was in baseball for several decades.