21st Baseball in Literature & Culture Conference

1. 21st annual
Baseball in Literature and Culture conference -
April 1, 2016
Ottawa, KS

2. “This is Satchel”
Satchel Paige's "depth," and Buck O'Neil's, and (in this first season of my lifetime
without Yogi Berra) also that of some other noteworthy baseball philosophers.
Phil Oliver
phil.oliver@mtsu.edu
Middle Tennessee State University

3. My previous Baseball in Literature and Culture slideshows
● The Inevitable Last Pitch: Hub Fans Bid Rabbit Adieu (‘09)
● From Gibson to McGwire: reflections from a Cardinals fan on childhood
indoctrination, adult disillusion, and the Steroid Era (‘10)
● The Short and Incredible Career of Sidd Finch - Zen and Now (April 1, 2011)
● Baseball and the Meaning of Life (‘12)
● “Right” When They’re Wrong: Fallible Umpires and Infallible (Inexorable,
Inescapable) Rules (‘13)
● Coming Home: reflections on time, memory, and baseball’s eternal return
(prompted by the revival of Nashville’s Sulphur Dell (‘14)
● Spring Training and the Perennial Renewal of Life (‘15)
That was a long homestand for me, in Tennessee. I was ready for a road-trip. So here
we are...

4. We used to have an uncharitable
answer to that question, my old
undergrad peers and I back in the
‘70s...
But let’s begin with a clean slate.

5. Buck O'Neil told Ken
Burns a story about
his roadtrip with
teammate Satchel
Paige, to visit a
historical site of the
slave trade.

6. “But let me tell you about a part of Satchel that no one ever hears about. On the road once, we
were going to Charleston, South Carolina, and when we got to Charleston the rooms weren't
ready. So Satchel said to me, "Nancy, come with me." I said, "Okay." I had an idea where we
were going. We went over to Drum Island. Drum Island is where they auctioned off the slaves.
And they had a plaque saying what had happened there. And we stood there, he and I, maybe
ten minutes, not saying a word, just thinking. And after about ten minutes he said, "You know
what, Nancy?" I said, "What, Satchel?" He said, "Seems like I've been here before." I said, "Me,
too." I know that my great grandfather could have been there. My great grandmother could have
been auctioned off on that block. So this was Satchel — a little deeper than a lot of people
thought.” Shadow Ball

7. He said, “Seems like I’ve
been here before.” I said,
“Me too.” I know that my
great grandfather could
have been there. My great
grandmother could have
been auctioned off on that
block. So this was Satchel-
a little deeper than a lot of
people thought.”

8. This was negro baseball
For nearly a half-century, from 1898 to 1946,
black men were barred from the
organized leagues by an unwritten rule, and
behind this color line there
developed a uniquely American spectacle called
Negro baseball. Each year, black teams took to
the road in early spring, and from then until late
fall, they played a ballgame almost every day,
meeting black teams and white teams in farm
villages and big cities, on sandlots and in major-
league stadiums. In the winter they went to
Florida or California, Cuba or Mexico, and played
some more. Negro baseball was played the year-
round...

9. Was Satchel a philosopher?
A pragmatist or
transcendentalist, even?
Toting bags at the Mobile
train station as a youngster
“for a nickel or a dime each,
the young Paige put his
ingenuity to work and rigged
up a pole and ropes to make
a sling that
enabled him to carry three or
four bags at a time. His
income soared…”
“To be a philosopher is not merely
to have subtle thoughts, nor even
to found a school, but so to love
wisdom as to live according to its
dictates, a life of simplicity,
independence, magnanimity, and
trust. It is to solve some of the
problems of life, not only
theoretically, but practically.”
“Whenever a dispute is serious,
we ought to be able to show some
practical difference that must
follow from one side or the other’s
being right.”

10. “The essence of Satchel Paige cannot be
captured by dry statistics, and besides,
most of the available figures are somewhat
elusive, like the man himself.” But here’s a
statistic you can’t ignore, even if you can’t quite
believe it: “In 1961 he estimated that
he had pitched in more than 2,500 games,
winning about 2,000. Since he was
barnstorming through 1967, perhaps a hundred
games should be added…”

11. 'Satchel': Confronting Racism One Fastball At A Time
Fresh Air… npr
...with a 1-0 lead in the ninth, and two
outs, his infield made three straight
errors. The bases were loaded and
Satchel was fuming. The crowd began to
hiss, which made him madder still.
"Somebody was going to have to be
showed up for that," he wrote
afterwards. "I waved in my outfielders.
When they got in around me, I said, 'Sit
down there on the grass right behind
me. I'm pitching this last guy without an
outfield...'"

13. Satchel Paige
Leroy Robert Paige
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 3", Weight: 180 lb.
Born: July 7, 1906 in Mobile, Alabama, United States
Died: June 8, 1982 in Kansas City, Missouri, United
States (Aged 75.336)
Major League Stats / View Player Bio from the SABR
BioProject

15. “Depending on how he gripped the ball and how
hard he threw it, Satchel Paige had pitches that
included the bat-dodger, the two-hump blooper,
the four-day creeper, the dipsy-do, the Little Tom,
the Long Tom, the bee ball, the wobbly ball, the
hurry-up ball and the nothin’ ball.”

16. The numbers – at least the big league ones – do not do
justice to his legend.
The stories, however, keep alive the memory of a man
who became bigger than the game. Leroy “Satchel” Paige
was bigger than mere numbers.
Apocryphal stories surround Paige, who was born July 7,
1906 in Mobile, Ala. He began his professional career in
the Negro leagues in the 1920s after being discharged
from reform school in Alabama. The lanky 6-foot-3
right-hander quickly became the biggest drawing card in
Negro baseball – able to overpower batters with a buggy-
whipped fastball… HoF

17. “Satchel was a comedian.
Satchel was a preacher.
Satchel was just about some
of everything. We had a good
baseball team. But when
Satchel pitched, we had a
great baseball team. It was
just that Satchel brought the
best out in everybody. The
amazing part about it was
that he brought the best out
in the opposition, too.”

20. 1. Avoid fried meats, which
angry up the blood.
2. If your stomach disputes you, lie
down and pacify it with cool
thoughts.
3. Keep the juices flowing by
jangling around gently as you
move.
6. Don't look back,
something may be gaining
on you.
4. Go very lightly on vices such as
carrying on in society. The social
ramble ain't restful.
5. Avoid running at all times.
Satchel’s Rules (for longevity, or staying young, or happiness…)

21. Sadly, Satchel - like Yogi - didn’t say everything he said. Those rules
“sounded like the pitcher and were based on his ruminations during hours
of interviews. The spirit was Satchel’s…” (Larry Tye)
And in fact, after the rules appeared in Collier’s in June 1953, he “gave
out business cards with his rules on the back.” (Paul Dickson)

23. He definitely did espouse
#5. In Out of My League
George Plimpton quoted
Satch: “I don’t generally like
running. I believe in training
by rising gently up and
down from the bench.”

24. “#3 seems authentic too.
“Skidoodle is a game I invented some
years ago to exercise without doing myself
permanent harm. I throw the ball on one
bounce to another man, he bounces it
back at me. We jangle around. Nobody
falls down exhausted.”

26. "Of course the stories about Satchel are legendary and some of them are
even true." - Buck O'Neil
"(Satchel) was the best pitcher I ever saw." - Bob Feller
"Satch was the greatest pitcher in baseball." - Ted Williams
"Satchel was the toughest pitcher I ever faced. I couldn't do much with him.
All the years I played there, I never got a hit off of him. He threw fire." - Buck
Leonard
"The best and fastest pitcher I've ever faced." - Joe DiMaggio
"The best righthander baseball has ever known." - Bill Veeck
"He threw the ball as far from the bat and as close to the plate as possible." -
Casey Stengel

27. Does "time begin on
opening day"? For some
of us, that is when it
stops in the salutary
sense of transcendence.
Satchel Paige said that
maybe he would "pitch
forever," and in the
sense of a naturalized
concept of eternity
maybe he did.

32. Buck O'Neil. Photo Credit: Buck
O'Neil
INNING 5: SHADOW BALL
(1930-1940)
How did you get started playing baseball?
Every town had a baseball team — my town, Carrabelle,
Florida, had a little local team and my father played on the
baseball team and he would take me around with him to the
baseball fields, and I loved it. I could catch the ball so the
older fellows would like to throw the ball to me because I
was kind of a little show. You know, here's a little boy
catching the ball. So that started me wanting to play
baseball.
And after I left Carrabelle and moved to Sarasota... now I'm
seeing the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Athletics, and
the New York Yankees in spring training. I saw Babe Ruth, I
saw John McGraw, I saw Connie Mack — I saw the great
ballplayers of that era and now my eyes are wide open
seeing these people play baseball at a level that I never
imagined it could be.
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/shadowball/oneil.ht
ml

33. It is a religion. For me. You
understand? If you go by the rules,
it is a right. The things that you can
do. The things that you can't do,
that you aren't supposed to do. And
if these are carried out, it makes a
beautiful picture overall. It's a very
beautiful thing because it taught me
and it teaches everyone else to live
by the rules, to abide by the rules.
I think sports in general teach a guy
humility. I can see a guy hit the ball
out of the ballpark, or a grand slam
home run to win a baseball game,
and that same guy can come up
tomorrow in that situation and miss
the ball and lose the ball game. It
can bring you up here but don't get
too damn cocky because tomorrow
it can bring you down there. See?
But one thing about it though, you
know there always will be a
tomorrow. You got me today, but
I'm coming back.
What has a lifetime of baseball taught you?

34. “Waste no tears for me. I didn’t
come along too early. I was right on
time.”

35. Sick on Easter, the holiday pagans like me
celebrate as symbolic of spring and the return
of life (whether Eostre existed or not). No
fair.
But I wasn't too sick to continue my
preparation for this week's conference with
two wonderful books.
First, I finally gave overdue
attention to Older
Daughter's 2010 Christmas
gift: We Are the Ship: the
Story of Negro League
Baseball, with its terrific
dedication:

36. And, the best book about baseball that's
really about life that I've read in a long time:
The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through
Buck O'Neil's America makes clear just why
old Buck was such an inspiration to so
many. My conference presentation started
out being about Satchel Paige, on the
strength of Buck's testimony that he was
deeper than people knew. But it's going to
end up more about Buck, who was not only
deep with self-knowledge but wide with
compassion. He was a humanist, a kind and
caring man who seems to have had a Midas
touch for the best in people.

37. When Buck was inexplicably snubbed by Cooperstown, not long before his death at nearly 95, he went
there anyway to lead the posthumous induction of seventeen of his old friends. And then he got
everybody in the place to hold hands and sing a little refrain about love.
Why wasn't he bitter and resentful over his exclusion, the way most of us would have been? Why didn't
he snub Cooperstown? Think about this, son. What is my life all about? He'd led the examined life. He
knew.

38. After Hall snub, Buck chose joy
over anger
This was the day that Buck O’Neil turned
crushing personal rejection into soaring
public celebration — and he took us all
along for the ride, complete with a postscript
sing-along about loving one another that
had everyone holding hands.
Tears were plentiful.
Remember: This was supposed to be
O’Neil’s coronation. The Hall of Fame and
Major League Baseball had put in place a
procedure to induct and honor deserving
members of the Negro Leagues. It was a
worthy and genuine goal but, really, it was
also a framework for finding a method to
induct O’Neil. This was no secret.
==
http://buckoneil.com/articles/after-hall-snub-
buck-chose-joy-over-anger/
You know what happened.
Somehow, and this still seems
inexplicable, a committee composed
primarily of historians and authors
deemed O’Neil as undeserving while
embracing 17 others.
The snub was unmistakable and cut
deeply.
The Hall had already invited O’Neil, in
the belief he was a shoo-in for induction,
to speak at the ceremony on behalf of all
Negro League inductees. He wondered
whether the rejection meant the
invitation would be rescinded. Just the
opposite. Officials at the Hall were
amazed O’Neil remained willing to
participate. This was the higher road.
O’Neil quieted the standing ovation that
greeted his introduction by telling
everyone, “All right, sit down.” He then
informed the crowd...

39. Speech at the at the National Baseball Hall of Fame
delivered 30 June 2006
Alright, sit down. This is outstanding!
I've been a lot of places. I've done a lot
of things that I really liked doing. I hit
the homerun. I hit the grand slam
home run. I hit for the cycle...I shook
hands with President Truman & with
the other President and I hugged his
wife, Hillary. So I've done a lot of
things I liked doing. But I'd rather be
right here, right now, representing
these people that helped build a bridge
across the chasm of prejudice… This is
quite an honor for me. See, I played in
the Negro Leagues...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=LtE2I6jsung
http://www.americanrhetoric.com
/speeches/buckoneilbaseballhall
offame.htm
http://buckoneil.com/

41. “Honors an individual whose
extraordinary efforts to enhance
baseball’s positive impact on
society has broadened the game’s
appeal, and whose character,
integrity and dignity reflect the
qualities embodied by Buck O’Neil
throughout his life and career.”

42. “He is a role model, a father, a
mentor, a teacher, a sensei, a hero,
a gentleman, a man. Buck never
curses his fate. He knows that what
he did as a player and manager
paved the way for the rest of us.” —
Hall of Famer Ernie Banks

43. “Buck O’Neil never
met a stranger.
Everybody was his
friend.” Lou Brock

44. Hang on to your day 18
Moving is the secret of living, the opposite of dying 35
Looking for life- that’s the secret 61
Dying doesn’t scare him. Forgetting does. 77
Fathers & sons… you pass along wisdom. 79-80
It isn’t how long you live. It’s how well you live. 81
“I got too comfortable.” Comfortable was too close to dying. 122
Don’t rush, he said. Savor the details. Follow the turns. Go with the wind. 131
“People die. Baseball lives on.” 211
“Think about this, son. What is my life all about?” 266

45. I never minded
Riding the bus
Back in the old days.
Other guys hated those rides.
Complained the whole way..
Said: “We ever going to get
there?”
I’d read the paper
Or talk with somebody
Or just look out the window,
Watch the trees.
We’ll get there.
We always get there.

46. John Jordan O’Neil Jr. was born on Nov. 13, 1911, in Carrabelle, Fla… nyt obit
John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil died on Oct. 6, 2006, at the age of 94…
O’Neil was 82 in 1994 when Burns, traveling across the country filming his 18 1/2-
hour documentary series “Baseball,” found him.
O’Neil would laugh sometimes in those days, said his friend Bob Kendrick, director
of the Negro Leagues Baseball museum. “Bob, I’ve been telling the same stories for
40 years, and nobody listened,” Kendrick recalled him saying.
But they were listening now…
In later years, when O’Neil wasn’t traveling to public appearances, he used to hang
around the museum. Sometimes he’d sit in the lobby by himself for hours until
someone came in. He would greet them with his big smile and offer a personal tour.
Then he would lead them through, telling his new friends stories about his old
friends.
Buck O'Neil's legacy: Baseball and beyond

47. ED SMITH STADIUM: Ken Burns' Tribute to Buck O'Neil
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/ https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/shadowball/oneil.html

48. "How can a you hit and think at the same time?"
"I always thought that record would stand until it
was broken."
"In baseball, you don't know nothing."
"I never said most of the things I said."
more
"All pitchers are liars or crybabies."
"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."
"Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other
half is physical."
"It ain't the heat, it's the humility."
"It gets late early out there."
"It's like deja vu all over again."
"Nobody goes there anymore because it's too
crowded."
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
"You should always go to other people's
funerals, otherwise, they won't come to yours."

49. There Will Never Be Another Yogi Berra, and Alex
Rodriguez Is It ?!

50. “I can feel like I’m 15 when I’m talking baseball, watching baseball.”
In Spring, when I was a young man,
my fancy turned always to the crack
of the bat and the thrill of the grass.
Still does, and did yesterday with
Spring Training beaming on the
radio from places like Fort Myers FL
and Surprise AZ, and sunshine
beaming brightly in my own
backyard in the middle of Spring
Break.
Baseball on the radio has always
transported me, first when I was a
kid listening to Harry Caray, Jack
Buck and the Cardinals on KMOX
1120 AM, and ever since...U@d

51. Friday, March 25, 2016
Joe Garagiola
With the latest report of the NFL's
negligence in addressing its brain injury
problem, I turn happily to my sport. The
21st Baseball in Literature and Culture
Conference is just a week away. It used to
happen across the hall, a few steps from my
office door. This year it's going to take a
little longer to get there, at its new venue
600 miles away in Kansas. But I wouldn't
miss it, my surest sign of Spring. I'm
especially looking forward to revisiting the
Negro Leagues Museum.
That's a lot of Kansas City, for
an old St. Louisan like me, so
I'm adding Yogi and his pal
Joe Garagiola to the program.
He just died at age 90,
following his friend who also
checked out at 90in
September. I'd love to believe
they'll both go on cracking
wise on a heavenly Hill
In my presentation I'm going to
talk about the under-appreciated
sagacity of the game's greatest
wits, mostly Satchel Paige (who,
like Yogi, didn't say everything
he said) and Buck O'Neil (who
did).

52. It was Joe, to whom Yogi instructed: "If you
come to a fork in the road, take it."
It was Joe who stoked the legend of Yogi.
"Not only was I not the best catcher in the
major leagues, I wasn't even the best catcher
on my street."
Unlike Yogi, Joe played for lots of teams ("I
went through baseball as a player to be
named later") including, naturally, the Cubs.
"One thing you learned as a Cubs fan: when
you bought you ticket, you could bank on
seeing the bottom of the ninth."

53. His debut in the Cardinals broadcast booth with Buck
and Caray was a couple of years before my time, but I
caught him later on countless Games of the Week, and
on the Today show. He came across as a regular guy,
genuine, self-effacing, and deceptively simple, an
ideal complement for Vin Scully's florid style. “Scully
will describe the azure blue skies and the fluffy clouds
and Old Glory blowing in center field, and he makes
you feel like, ‘Let’s have a parade,’ ” he said. “He can
put words together, and I’d come in and say, ‘All I
know is the wind is blowing, and if the pitcher doesn’t
have a good fastball or can’t spot it, he’ll be backing
up third all day.’ ”

54. He received the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
He might have echoed Yogi's pithiest Socratic truth - "In baseball
you don't know nothin'" - but he knew plenty.

55. Soul of the Game

56. Satchel Paige
A short 4 minute video that documents pitching great Satchel Paige. It has footage from both his Hall of Fame speech and of him warming up for his 1965
start with the Kansas City Athletics.

57. It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart.
The game begins in the spring, when everything else
begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the
afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill
rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone."
"On matters of race, on matters of decency, baseball
should lead the way."
"The people of America care about baseball, not about
your squalid little squabbles. Reassume your dignity and
remember that you (players during the 1981 strike) are
the temporary custodians of an enduring public trust."
The largest thing I've learned is the enormous grip that
this game has on people, the extent to which it really is
very important. It goes way down deep. It really does
bind together. It's a cliche and sounds sentimental, but I
have now seen it from the inside."
A. Bartlett Giamatti

59. Armchair Bk, SI, LOA, Burns, LH...