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Joe Louis and Satchel Paige meet at Comiskey Park on August 13, 1948.
1948 was the only year between 1947 and 1953 when the Yankees didn’t win a Worlds Championship. That year the Indians took home the title, but that didn’t mean that the “House That Ruth Built” was devoid of champions that season. On June 28, 1948, 42,000 fans packed into Yankee stadium to see the great Joe Louis successfully defended his World Heavyweight title in a famous bout against Jersey Joe Walcot.
Two months later — as seen in the above image — Joe Louis met fellow African-American icon Satchel Paige, who had recently signed his first MLB contract with the Indians. The photo was taken in Chicago, right before Paige tossed a five-hit shutout against the White Sox. Louis and Paige had a lot in common: Both hailed from Alabama, were once-in-a-generation talents, dominated their respective sports for an impressively long period of time and eventually earned induction into their respective Halls of Fame. Louis held his title for an amazing 140 consecutive months and successfully defended it an incredible and unprecedented 25 times. He boxed his last match at age 37.
Paige — widely considered one of the greatest pitchers of all time — dominated the Negro Leagues for a career’s worth of seasons, then inked his deal with the Indians at age 41. He pitched his last MLB game in 1965 when he was 58 years old.
Gary Livacari
