Something to Prove: The Great Satchel Paige vs. Rookie Joe DiMaggio

In 1936, two baseball players had something to prove. Was twenty-one-year-old Joe DiMaggio ready for the Major Leagues? Should Satchel Paige, pitching great in the Negro Leagues, be playing in the Majors? After all, Paige "threw fire," and baffled batters said that "the balls he pitched looked like marbles or bullets." As a test, a game was set up between the barnstorming team Dick Bartell's All Stars (a group of major league players plus DiMaggio) and the Satchel Paige All-Stars. The first time up, DiMaggio nervously faced the great Satchel, and was hit by a pitch. In his second at-bat, he grounded out, as he did the third time up. In his fourth at-bat, he smacked a shot over Satch's head that was caught by the center fielder. The game went to extra innings, and both players did indeed prove themselves worthy. DiMaggio joined the Yankees right away, but it was twelve years before Satchel Paige broke the color barrier, a year after Jackie Robinson. Skead effectively uses a little-known baseball episode to portray larger issues of race and justice in America, while superbly developing the game's tension inning by inning. Grainy brown-toned illustrations nicely evoke the dreamy reminiscences of baseball legend, and frequent changes of perspective keep the story from becoming static. An engaging look at two baseball greats who eventually made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame. An author's note and brief bibliography are included. dean schneider