Also Read:
Was Satchel
the Best?
How
Many Games Did Satchel Win?
WHEN TED AND SATCH HOOKED UP
BY
JOHN B HOLWAY
For Black History Month, the following is an excerpt from my book, The Last 400 Hitter, which is due to be published in April.
In 1969, when Ted Williams was managing the wash Senators, I attended a luncheon at Washington's black Howard University, honoring Williams for his 1966 Cooperstown speech to open the doors to Negro Leaguers.
Ted had a good time talking hitting with Buck Leonard. "Did you ever guess with the pitcher?' Ted asked. Buck said he did. "So did I," Ted nodded.
Old-time pitcher Scrip Lee asked why the Senator batters tried to bunt high pitches, which they could only pop up. Ted threw his head back and laughed. "If you can teach my players to bunt any kind of pitch, high or low, I need you on my bench!"
In his talk Williams sketched his own career. "As I look back on my own career, and I don't know anything else I'd rather do. And a chill goes up and down my spine when I realize that I might have been denied all this if I had been black."
(Bob Feller was another star who gave a helping hand to the old Negro Leaguers. He barnstormed against them almost every autumn, earning much-needed paychecks for them as well as for himself. In the 1980s Bob was guest of honor at their reunion in Ashland Kentucky. "You've done a lot for baseball," he told the old-timers, "and baseball hasn't done a lot for you.")
Williams told the gathering of batting against Satchel Paige.
Satchel Paige joined the league at the age of 42 with the Cleveland Indians. Williams had seen Paige pitch back when Ted was a kid in San Diego. He recalled that Satchel was so skinny the elastics on his pants legs hung loose. But he "had a nice, easy windup, he made everything look easy."
Satchel Paige joined the league at the age of 42 with the Cleveland Indians. Williams had seen Paige pitch back when Ted was a kid in San Diego. He recalled that Satchel was so skinny the elastics on his pants legs hung loose. But he "had a nice, easy windup, he made everything look easy."
Now that they faced each
other in the American League, "Well, I want to tell you, he still had a nice
easy windup and a nice, easy hesitation pitch, and good conrol. He'd give
you that nice easy motion, then he'd stop, and there it was! All that time
I was hitting up there, I was thinking, 'Boy, this guy must have been some
kind of pitcher, this guy must have been some kind of pitcher.'"
While Ted was admiring Satch's easy style, he suddenly realized, he had gone to bat five times with only one hit. "To hell with this," he muttered, "I"ve got to go to work!"
In their next face-off, "Paige gives me that double windup, got his hands right in back of his ahead and turned his wrist. Everybody in the park saw it - he made damn sure I saw it. I said, 'Jesus, curve ball.' And, whoom, fastball, strike three."
Next day Satchel ran onto the field late, after the National Anthem - "He was always late." He popped into the Red Sox dugout. "Where's Ted? Where's Ted?" he demanded.
"Right here, Satch," Williams replied.
Paaige grinned. "You bought to know better than to guess with ol' Satch."
Paige grinned: "You ought to know better than to guess with Ol' Satch."
