Two all-time great hitters in Major League Baseball history – Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. – took a moment to discuss how they’d approach a legendary pitcher in Satchel Paige.
The responses were hilarious.
Paige played baseball professionally for over four decades, starting in the Negro leagues before becoming the oldest rookie in MLB history at age 42. He was later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.
How good was he? The Kansas City Athletics signed Paige to a one-day contract in 1965 at the age of 59. He started the game and pitched three innings against the Boston Red Sox, giving up just one hit.
Bonds and Griffey had two very different responses to how they’d approach the daunting fastball and curveball-wielding magician.
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How Would Bonds Do Against Satchel Paige?
During the pregame show on Fox for MLB’s Rickwood Field game Thursday night, another all-time great player in Derek Jeter asked others on the panel how they’d fare against Satchel Paige.
Rickwood Field is the oldest existing professional baseball park in the United States and served as the home for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues.
Paige pitched for them from 1927-1930.
Bonds offered no hesitation in his response, which was exuding confidence.
“Tell me right now on the spot, what would you do against Satchel Paige?” Jeter asked.
“Me? Gone!” Bonds said as he lifted a finger skyward. “You lost your mind, Jeter. Gone! Read about it on ESPN.”
Hmm… Satchel at his prime against a pre-bulked-up Bonds? Who gets the better of that matchup?
What About Griffey?
Griffey though, wasn’t quite so sure about how he’d do against Satchel Paige and offered an alternative approach.
“I’m drag bunting,” he chuckled. “We’re gonna race to first.”
Derek Jeter: Tell me right now on the spot, what would you do against Satchel Paige??
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 20, 2024
Barry Bonds: Me?! GONE. You lost your mind Jeter. Gone!
😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/CbKycyDyM3
Satchel Paige was the beneficiary of a statistical move by Major League Baseball last month when officials properly decided to add stats from the historical Negro Leagues to its own.
As a result, Paige’s win total went from 28 to 125.
Paige was the first black pitcher to play in the American League and the seventh black player to play in Major League Baseball. He was the first from the Negro Leagues to pitch in a World Series, winning it with the Cleveland Indians in 1948.
He was 42 at the time.
Bonds is the godson of Willie Mays who passed away at the age of 93 earlier this week. Mays also played for the Birmingham Black Barons, well after Paige was there.
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