I never threw an illegal pitch. The trouble is, once in a while I toss one that ain't never been seen by this generation.

Wilkinson of the Monarchs. Paige told one version in which the mayor of a small hamlet asked him in Spanish if he had intentionally lost a particular game. Paige took the mound when the Crawfords opened the season on April 30 in their newly built stadium Greenlee Field the first completely black-owned stadium in the country.

He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971 the first player to be inducted based upon his play in the Negro leagues. On town tours across America Paige would have his infielders sit down behind him and then routinely strike out the side. As a member of the Cleveland Indians Paige became the oldest rookie in Major league Baseball and attracted record crowds wherever he pitched.