"Don't look back," advised Leroy Satchel Paige. "Something might be gaining on you." Presented is a Satchel Paige single-signed circa 1981 Official American League Ball (MacPhail). Hall of Famer Paige began pitching in the Negro Leagues in 1926, and if one wanted to "look back" numerically at his career, reliable statistics don't really exist. Paige played for numerous teams in the Negro National and American Leagues. The Kansas City Monarchs was his most famous team. Paige jumped from team to team and from country to country as he traveled the globe in his pitching career. He has estimated that he won about 2,000 games, including barnstorming games against semi-pro and amateur squads. Paige pitched in the Major Leagues when integration occurred after Jackie Robinson broke the "Color Line" in 1947. When he was about 42 years old (as his year of birth was obscured by his many different stories concerning his actual age) he signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1948 and had a 6-1 record with a 2.48 ERA that year as Cleveland won the AL Pennant and then the World Series. After a year out of the Major Leagues, Paige resurfaced with the St. Louis Browns for the 1952-54 seasons. Paige came back for one more Major League appearance on September 25, 1965, as he threw three shutout innings for the Kansas City Athletics, at age 58, against the Boston Red Sox at a regular season game at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium, with Carl Yastrzemski doubling in the first inning for the only hit against Paige.

The offered baseball has an image of Paige. Using a blue, fiber-tip marker, Paige inscribed and, in bold, neat script, signed on the sweet spot as, "From Satchel Paige." The signed ball exhibits a few minor stains and some darkening, but the baseball is in overall nice condition. The Paige single-signed ball comes with a JSA LOA for the signature. (JSA Cert. Number: YY12593).