Satchel Paige was my Neighbor

The year was 1980 and I was working in Springfield, IL as the Clubhouse Manager for the Springfield Redbirds, back then the class AAA farm club of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Our owner, A. Ray Smith, was a flamboyant man who had moved the ballclub a couple of years before to central Illinois, from their previous homes in Tulsa Oklahoma and New Orleans Louisiana.

Somewhere along the way, he befriended baseball legend Leroy Satchel Paige and had hired him to serve as a goodwill ambassador for the team.

One day, Smith approached me and asked me where I lived in town.  I told him that I lived in an old house that had been converted to four apartments near the ballpark.  He asked me if I would show him my place as he explained that Satchel Paige was moving to Springfield and he needed to find him a place to live.

Of course, as a young guy working for a minor league team, my salary was low and this old place was pretty much all I really afford.  I told Smith that I doubted that my old apartment house would be suitable for someone as famous as Satchel Paige.  Nevertheless, he insisted on seeing it for himself.

As luck would have it, one of the apartments downstairs was vacant.  Much to my surprise, Smith decided to take the unit.  He liked the fact that it was close to the ballpark and also mentioned that it was nice that I could help to look after him.

I rarely traveled with our team back then, so many nights I spent down in Satchel’s place listening to so many amazing stories from his life.  Far better than any television show and even though it was a priceless experience it didn’t cost me a penny!!

One day during the off season, I was out handling my other role with the team trying to sell scorebook ads and season tickets.  I returned to the office just before lunchtime.  Smith, who could be tough to please at times, asked me what I had going in the afternoon.  I really didn’t have anything promising lined up but I was reluctant to tell the boss as much.

A.Ray said, cancel whatever plans you have.  I need you to drive Satchel back to his home in Kansas City, MO.  He told me to go meet him at the apartment, load up his car and hit the road.  The drive would be about seven hours.  I was to drive to the airport in Kansas City where Satchel would drop me off and I had a flight back to Springfield around 9:00pm.

There was little time to spare and when I arrived at Satchel’s place I discovered that he really hadn’t even started to pack.

Finally, we hit the road in Satchel’s car, and I was so worried that I would miss my flight.  Satchel then pulled out of his bag a very early version of what he called a “fuzz buster” designed to alert drivers of police radar.  It was literally about the size of a cigar box, and it barely fit on the dashboard.

I was now driving close to 100mph when suddenly the detector made a slight chirp.  Unfortunately, there was a police car literally in the lane next to me and he pulled me over.  He was so close I could’ve shaken hands with him!  Some “fuzz buster”!

He instructed me to sit in his squad car while he radioed in my driver’s license info and the car’s registration etc.

At the speed I had been going I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had taken me in.  He was describing me on the radio when suddenly, the officer on the other end asked if there was anyone else in the vehicle.  When the officer began describing Satchel’s appearance, the voice on the other end said “why that’s Satchel Paige.  You can’t give them a ticket” It turns out the license plates LSP 14 got us out of hot water.  Those letters stood for Leroy Satchel Paige and his uniform # 14.  Somehow, we made it to Kansas City and I caught my flight on time.  I had a great story for the boss the next morning.