Satchel Paige, The Hero of Bismarck, North Dakota.
Contrary to the popular belief of some people, there was a lot written about Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige in newspapers back in the early days of his Negro League career. It simply was erratic and inconsistent – and impossible to mount over time by any accurate statistical analysis of credible data.
But it was there in varied forms.
Through these excerpts from a rather lengthy report on many other factors, here’s how the Bismarck Tribune reported the success of Mr. Paige in their September 5, 1933 edition of the paper after Leroy led the local club he played for through a a critical Labor Day series weekend. It begins with four bold type layered headlines:
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TWO VERDICTS AND WINS, TIE IN OTHER
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Reached Dramatic Peak Sunday When Satchel Paige Out-pitched Willie Foster
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CRUSHED VISITORS MONDAY
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Two Teams Will End Their Seasons Next Sunday With Contest At Jamestown
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Winning two games and earning a tie in the other contest of a three-game series with Jamestown over the Labor Day weekend, Bismarck’s potent baseball club decisively advanced its claim for the unofficial state championship.
About 7,000 fans saw the series which reached its dramatic peak in the tenth inning of Sunday’s game when Satchel Paige singled in a run from second base to win his own game with Willie Foster and came to a roaring end Monday when Bismarck routed both of Jamestown’s mound aces, Barney “Lefty” Brown and Willie Foster, to win an 11-5 verdict in a walkaway.
Bismarck will play its last home game Wednesday evening when it battles the strong Dickinson club at the city park beginning at 6 o’clock.
Finale at Jamestown
……. Besides outpitching Foster in a brilliant mound duel Sunday between the two greatest hurlers in colored baseball, Satchel Paige, Bismarck’s elongated right-hander, knocked in all three of Bismarck’s runs to nip Jamestown 3-2, Satchel’s last single coming dramatically in the 10th inning to score Oberholzer from second and end hostilities for the day.
Paige Whiffed Fifteen
Besides restricting the visitors to six hits in ten innings, Paige whiffed 15 of the visitors. Foster, the colored race’s great southpaw, was nicked for seven safe hits and in flurries of wildness, intentional and unintentional, gave 10 free tickets to first base. ………
Figures Tell Story
Bismarck probably be without the services of Satchel Paige this week, though it is possible he will return here for the winter and next season. Paige Tuesday was tentatively planning to accept an offer to pitch for the Easterners next Sunday against the Western All-Stars in a feature game between colored teams as a World’s Fair feature at Chicago. Willie Foster will pitch for the Western club.
More than a thousand fans turned out for the Saturday night game here, 4,000 for Sunday’s game and 1800 for the Monday contest. A special train from Jamestown Sunday brought nearly 500 here to swell the crowd into probably the largest turnout in North Dakota history.
– Bismarck Tribune, September 5, 1933, Page 6.
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If we only had that working time machine today, Bismarck could have had the largest turnout in Baseball History back on the Labor Day weekend of 1933.
Tags: Satchel Paige
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