Satchel Paige Rare Color Footage From 1948 Exhibition Game Uncovered (Video)

by Zach Stoloff on Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 5:00PM

Satchel Paige, like many players who spent most of their time in the Negro Leagues, is a near-mythical figure in baseball history. He was in his 40s by the time he finally made it to the minor leagues with the Cleveland Indians, so the best parts of his career aren’t documented in the same obsessive way that much of the history of baseball is.

However, recently 16mm video of Paige was discovered in the estate of director Richard Brooks by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Film Archive — a body dedicated to unearthing old video. The video is from an exhibition game at Los Angeles’ Wrigley Field (at the time the home of the minor league Los Angeles Angels) on Nov. 7, 1948.

Of course, this video doesn’t depict Paige in his prime, either, but it is a very rare find, with Paige fresh off a World Series championship with the Indians.

So check out the video below to see what Paige actually looked like in action — he’s the tall right-handed pitcher.