So the apparatus that brings you the Oscars -- the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- has a film archive division that's tasked with unearthing rare film footage and reels believed to be lost to history (they even have a "most wanted" section devoted to open cases).
Among the film archive's success stories is this one ...
Well, I'm in.
November of '48 would've been just after Paige's "rookie" season in the majors, during which, at the age of 41, he authored an ERA of 2.48 in 72 2/3 innings for Bill Veeck's Indians and tossed a scoreless two-thirds of a frame in the World Series. This exhibition would have taken place less than a month after Paige and the Indians topped the Boston Braves in six.
(Worth noting: At the age of 58[!], Paige tossed three scoreless frames for Charlie Finley and the Kansas City A's. As always, estimates of Paige's true age skew conservative. On the other hand, age seemed scarcely to matter to the legendary moundsman.)
While, as noted above, the color footage of Paige was unearted in 2009, it wasn't made publicly available until just a few months ago. So without further pomp ...
I need not tell you this contains multitudes: Satchel Paige on the mound and in color, shafts of light in the stands, refereshing beverages, home plate in shadows, timeless choices in ladies' hairstyles and fashions, the Goodyear Blimp and -- in case I didn't mention it already -- Satchel Paige on the mound and in color.
So that was cool.
It should also be noted that while visiting the Academy's official site, I made a fraudulent attempt to exercise the full rights of an Academy member (in the service of nominating Satchel Paige for Best Actor). As you'll soon see, though, my efforts came to grief ...
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