Satch & Me Read online

  Ten weeks after Josh died, Jackie Robinson (who played with Satch on the Kansas City Monarchs in 1945) broke the color barrier. White baseball began snatching up the best Negro League players, such as Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Fans stopped going to Negro League games and the league went out of business. The last Negro League World Series was played in 1948.

  Stosh, Laverne, and Flip Valentini do not exist in the real world (though I do have an old friend named Fred Valentini).

  And you can’t travel through time. At least not yet.

  Read More!

  Most of the information in this book came from reading lots of books about Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and the Negro Leagues. If you’d like to learn more, ask your librarian for these:

  Bruce, Janet. The Kansas City Monarchs: Champions of Black Baseball. Lawrence, Kans.: University Press of Kansas, 1985.

  Eckstut, Arielle, and David Sterry, editors. Satchel Sez: The Wit, Wisdom, and World of Leroy “Satchel” Paige. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001.

  Heward, Bill, with Dimitri V. Gat. Some Are Called Clowns: A Season with the Last of the Great Barnstorming Baseball Teams. New York: Crowell, 1974.

  Holway, John. Blackball Stars: Negro League Pioneers. Westport, Conn.: Meckler, 1988.

  Holway, John. Josh and Satch: The Life and Times of Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1992.

  Paige, Leroy Satchel, as told to David Lipman. Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever. New York: Doubleday, 1962.

  Paige, Leroy Satchel, as told to Hal Lebovitz. Pitchin’ Man: Satchel Paige’s Own Story. Westport, Conn.: Meckler, 1948.

  Peterson, Robert. Only the Ball Was White. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1970.

  Ribowsky, Mark. Don’t Look Back: Satchel Paige in the Shadows of Baseball. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.

  Ribowsky, Mark. The Power and the Darkness: The Life of Josh Gibson in the Shadows of the Game. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.

  Rogosin, Donn. Invisible Men: Life in Baseball’s Negro Leagues. New York: Macmillan, 1985.

  Satchel Paige’s Rules for Staying 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.

  —Avoid running at all times.

  —And don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.

  Permissions

  The author would like to acknowledge the following for use of photographs and artwork: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, NY: 26, 36, 59, 104, 110. George Strock/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images: 72. Nina Wallace: 7, 99, 132. Collection of John Holway: 134, 144.

  “Satchel Paige’s Rules for Staying Young” were originally published in Collier’s magazine, June 13, 1953.

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks to Bill Burdick of the National Baseball Hall of Fame; John Zajc, Wayne Stivers, and Larry Lester of the Society for American Baseball Research; Marilyn Holt of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh; John Holway; my wife, Nina Wallace; and all the folks at HarperCollins Children’s Books.

  Many thanks also to the great people I met at the schools I visited in 2005:

  In Alabama: Brookwood, Mountain Brook, and Cherokee Bend schools in Mountain Brook.

  In Arizona: Desert Sun, Pima, Desert Canyon, Laguna, Hohokam, Cochise, Sonoran Sky, and ANLC schools in Scottsdale.

  In Connecticut: Ledyard Center School in Ledyard; Butler School in Mystic; Noank School in Noank; Fairfield Country Day School in Fairfield; and Adams, Cox, Jones, Guilford Lakes, and Baldwin Middle School in Guilford.

  In Georgia: Lovett School in Atlanta and Dolvin School in Alpharetta.

  In Iowa: Welton and Ekstrand Schools in Welton, Briggs School in Maquoketa, and Camanche School in Camanche.

  In Massachusetts: Fessenden School in West Newton and Tenacre County Day School and Fiske School in Wellesley.

  In Michigan: Forest, Longacre, Flanders, Gill, Hillside, Beechview, Wooddale, Wood Creek, Eagle, HCC, Lanigan, Grace, and Kenbrook Schools in Farmington Hills.

  In Minnesota: Groveland School in Minnetonka, Deephaven School in Wayzata, and Minnewashta School in Excelsior.

  In New Jersey: Horace Mann School in Cherry Hill, Strawbridge School in Haddon Township, Tatem and Lizzie Haddon Schools in Haddonfield, Yellin School in Stratford, Indian Fields School in Dayton, Deerfield School in Short Hills, Roosevelt School in River Edge, Stillwater School in Stillwater, McGinn School in Scotch Plains, Lincoln School in Nutley, H. B. Whitehorne Middle School and Brown School in Verona, Chatham Middle School in Chatham, Deerfield School in Mountainside, Yardville School in Yardville, and Hartford School in Mount Laurel.

  In New York: Mount Kisco School in Mount Kisco, Bronxville School in Bronxville, Jefferson School in New Rochelle, and Riverdale Country School in the Bronx.

  In Oklahoma: Washington, Eisenhower, Madison, Truman, Wilson, Jackson, Cleveland, Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Monroe Schools in Norman.

  In Oregon: Errol Hassell School in Aloha; Scholls Heights and Cooper Mountain Schools in Beaverton; and Wismer, Ridgewood, West Tualatin View, and Montclair Schools in Portland.

  In Pennsylvania: Colonial School in Plymouth Meeting; Friends Central School in Wynnewood; Seville, Perrysville, and Ross Schools in Pittsburgh; Jenkintown School in Jenkintown; Newtown Friends School in Newtown; Annville School in Annville; Paradise and Salisbury Schools in Pequea Valley; Buckingham School in Buckingham; and Cold Spring, Gayman, and Kutz Schools in Doylestown.

  In Rhode Island: Dunn’s Corners School in Westerly and Bradford School in Bradford.

  About the Author

  DAN GUTMAN is the author of many fantastic books for young readers. Besides baseball, he has also written about soccer, basketball, bowling, and aliens. When he is not writing books, Dan is very often visiting a school. Thanks to his fans who voted in their classrooms, he has received fifteen state book awards and thirty-six state book award nominations. Dan lives in Haddonfield, New Jersey, with his wife, Nina, and their two children, Sam and Emma.

  You can visit him online at www.dangutman.com

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Also by Dan Gutman

  The Get Rich Quick Club

  Johnny Hangtime

  My Weird School:

  Mr. Hynde is Out of His Mind!

  Mrs. Cooney Is Loony!

  Ms. LaGrange Is Strange!

  Miss Lazar Is Bizarre!

  Mr. Docker Is off His Rocker!

  Baseball Card Adventures:

  Honus & Me

  Jackie & Me

  Babe & Me

  Shoeless Joe & Me

  Mickey & Me

  Abner & Me

  Credits

  Jacket art © 2006 by Steve Chorney

  Copyright

  SATCH & ME. Copyright © 2006 by Dan Gutman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whet
her electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub Edition © OCTOBER 2008 ISBN: 9780061973550

  Version 12142012

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