Maybe I'll Pitch Forever: A Great Baseball Player Tells the Hilarious Story Behind the Legend

Rating:
Summary: a well-done tribute to one of the best
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: a well-done tribute to one of the best
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Essential baseball reading
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Essential baseball reading
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Poignant description of a shameful period.
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Poignant description of a shameful period.
Review: 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.