Inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame, 1971. Pitched in the Negro Leagues, 1926-1950. Pitched for the American Leagues Cleveland Indians (1948-1949), St. Louis Browns (1951-1953), and Kansas City Athletics .
One of the great baseball pitchers of his era, Paige played most of his career in the Negro League. In 1948, as one of the first black players in the major leagues, he became in all likelihood the oldest rookie in baseball history. (He was officially 42, but widely regarded as older.) In 1965 he pitched three innings of a major league game.
In the Negro Leagues, he played for the Birmingham Black Barons, Baltimore Black Sox, Cleveland Cubs, Pittsburgh Crawfords, Kansas City Monarchs. New York Black Yankees, Memphis Red Sox, and Philadelphia Stars.
Oldest player to become a rookie in the major leagues in 1948 (at the age of 42).
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 623-625. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1998.
Was the oldest person ever named to his first All-Star team when he was named to the 1952 American League All-Star team at age 46.
