Welcome to Lelands - Sports Memorabilia and Card Auctions

Lot # 508: 1948 Satchel Paige Signed "Pitchin Man" Book (PSA)

Starting Bid: $300.00

Bids: 24 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Summer Classic 2022",
which ran from 8/28/2022 7:00 PM to
9/17/2022 10:00 PM



"Don't look back," advised Satchel Paige. "Something might be gaining on you." Yet, if we do look back - on Leroy "Satchel" Paige's career, the Hall of Fame right-hander is undoubtedly one of baseball's premier immortals. Offered is the opportunity to own a signed autobiography of Satchel, called Pitchin' Man. Paige was born in 1908, and he spent his baseball prime pitching in the spring and summer in the Negro Leagues and in the fall and winter on teams in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic - all over the baseball globe. Because of the unwritten 'Color Line" in Major League Baseball, Paige didn't play in the Major Leagues until 1948, when Cleveland owner Bill Veeck signed Paige for the Cleveland Indians as a forty-year-old rookie, the oldest rookie in MLB history. Paige had a record of 6-1, with a 2.48 ERA for the Indians that season, and he helped them to become the 1948 World Series winners. He later played for the St. Louis Browns in the American League, and in a special appearance, he even pitched in an official American League game for the Kansas City Athletics in 1965, when he was 58 years old, and he threw three scoreless innings. The Pitchin' Man book was written with writer Hal Lebovitz. The 5" x 7" paperback book is subtitled Satchel Paige's Own Story. and it has a colorful cover that shows an image of Paige. The book was written in 1948 and the writing was completed before the World Series. The 96-page book has a forward from Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau, the Cleveland manager in 1948. It has photos of Paige, some key box scores, some small cartoons, lots of Paige's sayings, much biographical material told in the first person, many recollections from his days in the Negro leagues and even some explanation of his pitching expertise. Pages 79-84 have a fold in a top corner. The pages show some natural yellowing through age, but this color change is moderate and typical for a paperback book almost three quarters of a century old. Overall, the book is in excellent condition. Paige has signed the book, as Satchel Paige, on the title page in a neat, bold script written in pencil. This autographed book makes a novel addition to any sports assemblage and showcases the man that Joe DiMaggio called "... the best I've ever faced, and the fastest." Full LOA from PSA. 

Views: 429