On
August 20, 1948 before a crowd of 78,382 at Municipal Stadium, their home field,
the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 1 – 0. The Indian pitcher who shut the White Sox out
that night was former Negro Leaguer Leroy “Satchel” Paige. After
being the most recognized hurler in Negro League baseball during the 1930s and
1940s, Paige had signed with the Indians earlier that summer.
He
held the White Sox to only three hits that 1948 August night, two singles and
one double. Paige struck out five and
walked only one. Former Negro Leaguer
Larry Doby, the Indians’ centerfielder, knocked in the only run Paige needed in
the bottom of the fourth inning with a single.
“Satchel” and Doby were the only African American players in the
American League at that time.
It
was Paige’s second shutout of the White Sox that month. On August 12 he beat them 5 – 0 before 51,013
in attendance at Chicago’s Comisky Park.
In each of his seven games as the Indian starting pitcher that year,
Paige drew record crowds.
He
finished the season with a 6 – 1 record pitching three complete games. The Indians won the American League pennant
and went on to be the 1948 World Series champions.
How many innings did “Satchel” Paige
pitch in the 1948 World Series?
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