"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"
--Satchel Paige

 On this day 48 years ago Satchel Paige pitched his last game in the Major Leagues. He went 3 innings, gave up one hit and struck out one.  He was 59 years old. 

Cy Young is the all time Major League Leader in wins with 511, and Walter Johnson is number two with 417 and no one else on the list breaks 400.  Though the Negro Leagues record books are less than precise, there seems to be general consensus that Paige pitched in  2500 to 3000 games and won between 1500 to 2000 of them.  By his own estimate, he pitched for 42 years.  And in the Negro Leagues, nearly all were complete games.  The more you do the math the more amazing it gets, especially considering that in today's game, starting pitchers generally throw no more than twice a week and rarely go more than 7 innings.  



And then there's all the things he said or is said to have said that are probably as much a part of his legacy and legend as his on the field exploits.  I wrote a song about him years ago using many of his more memorable quips and built the chorus around :

Work like you don't need the money, 

love like you never been hurt 

and dance like nobody's watching

He was a sly wit, whose verbal style was as unpredictable as his "Hesitation" pitch. And many of his advisories were informed by a life spent almost entirely on the road ...

"How to Keep Young" 

Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood.
If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.
Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move.
Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society— 

the social ramble ain't restful.  (gotta love that "social ramble")
Avoid running at all times.
And don't look back— something might be gaining on you.

The New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle was also a contest in which entrants could submit their answer to the three word phrase encoded within the grid that could be unlocked only after realizing that one would have to first access a Braille dictionary which would only provide the answer once you figured out how to read the letters in the bold boxes  and then match that with the...whew....really?  Ok, it's a change of pace, but it's also asking a lot and even feels a bit like cheating when you have to go elsewhere to find the keys to the solution.  I did the entire solve knowing (once I got the Braille thing)  that I was never going to get the phrase or understand the bold boxes until I did my Braille search and study, and by that time I had run out of patience.   I did not "Feel The Love".