李洛伊‧羅伯特‧「薩裘」‧佩吉 (Leroy
Robert 「Satchel」 Paige) 出生
1906年7月7日
在巡迴行程中，球員必須要在國內四處旅行，且為任何一個願意接受球員提出薪資要求的球隊打球。 (球隊也會巡迴全國，和各地的球隊進行比賽。) 佩吉有時候一年會旅行3萬英里，而且一次連續21天上場投球。他在表演賽時登場對抗當時最好的球員，不管是黑人或白人。很多觀眾都到場看他投球。
佩吉說：「我喜歡和黑人聯盟的隊伍打球，但是我也喜歡巡迴比賽。那讓我有機會和各地方的人們打球…。」
佩吉最後還是得到進入大聯盟的機會，他在1948年加入克裡夫蘭印第安人隊 (Cleveland
Indian) 。那是傑奇‧羅賓森 (Jackie
Robinson) 打破職棒大聯盟膚色障礙的後一年，羅賓森後來為布魯克林道奇隊 (Brooklyn
Dodgers) 打球。
In barnstorming, a player traveled across the country and pitched for any team willing to meet his price. (Teams also barnstormed around the U.S. and played against local teams.) Paige sometimes traveled as many as 30,000 miles a year and in one streak pitched twenty-nine days in a row! He played in exhibition games against the best players of the day, black or white. Huge crowds came to watch him.
"I liked playing against Negro League teams," Paige was quoted as saying, "but I loved barnstorming. It gave us a chance to play everybody and go everywhere . . ."
Paige finally got his chance to play in the major leagues as a Cleveland Indian in 1948. That was one year after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball and went to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
2/2 頁
|
