Important 1939 image of Satchel Paige and his favorite backstopBill Perkins. Satch trusted Perk -- who wore a chest protector with the words "Thou shalt not steal!" -- so much with his endless repertoire of pitches that he took him wherever he went, from Birmingham to the Pittsburgh Crawfords (where he had to sit behind Josh Gibson) to Santo Domingo in the Dominican League. In '39, the two made the scene in the Puerto Rican Winter League with the Guayama club. The 5 x 7 3/4" photo, dated "6/39" on the back, shows Paige with a ball in his right hand and Perkins in a sweaty, dirty uniform. Overall EX with only some minor creasing at top, and beautifully vintage tone. Sad postscript: In 1948, when Paige made it to the bigs, Perkins was shot and killed while in a restaurant.