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Maybe I'll Pitch Forever

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Any baseball buff worth his or her salt has heard of Satchel Paige. This book is a reprint of a book first published in 1962, so all the language is quite dated. Enjoyment of it requires a willingness to understand that 'coloured' and 'Negro' were once acceptable terms for black people without getting bent out of shape.

The co-author to whom the book was told by Mr. Paige did a good job, it seems, in standardizing Mr. Paige's English without losing his unique and very entertaining mode of expression. It is fairly entertaining and Mr. Paige displays a good deal of self-honesty concerning his strengths and weaknesses. There is a lot about how he felt at any given time in his career that gives real insight into himself and his peers.

The reasons you want to read this book are twofold. One, there's a lot of good baseball lore being told here. Two, and more importantly, this man gave his life to the game, showing courage and determination any American can be proud of. With all Mr. Paige missed out on due to the social structure of his time, to listen respectfully to his words now is one way to pay tribute to him.

One of the better first hand descriptions of the Negro Leagues by one of the all time great pitchers. Satchel Paige describes this shameful period in America's history in his own unique way, with homespun language and a flair for entertainment. Paige expresses the joy of playing baseball and the pain of not being allowed to play in the major leagues until late in his career.

This book will let you experience what it was like to be a member of the Negro Leagues with all the barnstorming, year round playing all over the western hemisphere, the games against the major leaguers, and the love of the game experienced on the backroads of America and the big stadiums of the large cities. These dedicated men paved the way for the intergration of baseball and changed the United States for the better.

If you love baseball, purchase this book and learn more about the history of the game - a history that was obscured by the bright lights of the segragated country and big leagues. You will learn about great players who put it all on the line for the grand old game.

"Maybe I'll Pitch Forever" was written in the sixties and is in the words of Leroy (Satchel) Paige as told to David Limpman. It isn't his only book as I recall one from many years ago, but surely is the best. It is one of the best baseball books that I have had the honor of reading. Way back in August of 1948 I got to see Satchel pitch and win against the Washington Senators in Washington D.C.. They called him an old man then, however he proved to be very key to the Cleveland Indians winning the world championship in 1948. Had he been allowed in the majors when in his prime no pitcher would have a better major league record. Not even today. Great pitchers from the past like Bob Feller and Dizzy Dean all agree with that. Paige was an iron man and in the Negro Leagues would pitch many a time every game in a season. In exhibition games he struck out and defeated the top white stars in America. The book is a great baseball story that has both humor and a touch of sadness. Satchel Paige rose above racism and endured despite great hardship. He was not perfect by any means, he is quite honest about that, but beautifully talented and eventually a good family man. One wants to believe in a "Field of Dreams" and that "Hall of Famer" Satchel Paige is in the lineup with the other legends of baseball who books are still being written about to this day.

Not only a great baseball life but a great American life is revealed in "Maybe I'll Pitch Forever," the story of Satchel Paige, one of baseball's greatest, but not best-known, pitchers.

Paige is often thought of today, like Yogi Berra, as a kind of primitive intelligence capable of spinning lines like "Don't look back, something might be gaining on you." As with Yogi, Paige's wit has obscured the magnitude of his achievement as a player. He was, by the acclaim of nearly all who played with him and against him, one of the greatest pitchers of all time, although of course he had but a brief opportunity to show his skills in the Major Leagues.

In fact, the book brings out, not only in Paige's words (he wasn't shy about declaring the peerlessness of his abilities), but in those of many others, that he should have been the first black to break the MLB color barrier, not Jackie Robinson. Why he wasn't is not precisely clear, although his strong independent streak (he was never reluctant to break contracts if it meant more money for him) may have had something to do with it.

All in all, the book offers a vivid view of the nomadic life that Paige and other black players lived in service to their sport. Paige pitched nearly year round, often every day, which of course seems nearly inconceivable to the modern fan, who is grateful when his team's starting pitcher goes seven innings with five days' rest. Paige not only pitched frequently, he did so from the East Coast to the West Coast to Mexico to Cuba. And he did it until he was into his fifties!

David Lipman allows his subject's voice to shine through, a key strength of the book. Satchel's humor, expressed in his own words, helps the reader to understand his surprising lack of bitterness at being denied an opportunity to pitch in the Major Leagues when it is obvious that he would be thought of as one of the best to ever play had he been given the opportunity from a young age.

A fine book, essential to the library of any student of the game.

I actually read this book - and loved it - when it came out in the early 1960s. I've never forgotten it, so when I saw it listed here at Amazon, I bought it....and am glad I did. It's still entertaining.

You have to take Satchel with a grain-of-salt, meaning his bragging. He is brutal, never stopping telling how great he was! Hey, Satch: I believe you! Paige was one-of-a-kind, a real character, and that's what makes this book fun. He also was one of the greatest pitchers of all-time and it's sad that most people don't know that.

Yes, he's bitter about not being able to strut his stuff in the Major Leagues, but you can't blame him. I just shake my head thinking of the records this man would own had he been given a chance to compete when he was young. He would have been a 300, maybe 400-game winner.

Anyway, his verbal expressions, his honesty about his faults and his (probable) exaggerations on some things all make for a good reason for any baseball fan. Kids can read it, too; the material is pretty clean.

Satchel Paige was one of the all-time greats, but to hear him tell his own tale is an exercise in hyperbole, leaving the reader wondering just how much can be believed. He makes fantastic claims, such as having thrown 150 no-hitters and apparently striking out 22+ batters more times than he can count during the lengthy time that he played our national past-time. In his stories he always comes out on top, is always the hero and savior of any team on which he plays (and the man played with Josh Gibson), and shows a near zero level of humility. He claims to have been always loved and thought of as the hero by his teammates, which comes off as false considering he would jump ship from team to team regardless of contracts or agreements whenever offered a handful of cash. Certainly a colorful character, Paige was an important player at a tragic time, but his storytelling comes of as self important chest beating.