The Names That Were Not There

On July 25, 1966, Ted Williams stood in Cooperstown at his own induction and spent part of it talking about somebody who wasn't there.

He thanked the usual people. He noted that Willie Mays had just passed him on the home run list and said go get 'em, Willie. Then he said he hoped that someday the names of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson could be added, as a symbol of the great Negro Leagues players who were not there only because they were never given the chance. Nobody asked him to say it. He'd been making the argument since at least 1953, when he brought it up in an interview while waiting to ship out to Korea as a Marine captain.

Williams knew what he was talking about because he'd hit against him. Paige was 42 when he finally reached the American League and Williams had first watched him pitch as a boy in San Diego, back when Satchel was so thin the elastic hung loose on his pant legs. Even in his forties the windup was easy, the hesitation pitch still froze people, and the control never left. Williams went five at-bats against him with one hit before he decided he had better start taking it seriously.

Paige was elected in 1971, the first man chosen by the Committee on Negro Baseball Leagues. He was 64, or maybe older. Nobody was ever entirely sure, including him.