The story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige, the legendary pitcher, from his barnstorming days in the 1920s, hoping to break into organized "negro" baseball, to his emergence at age 43 in the major leagues with the Cleveland Indians the year after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier.
Acting
Louis Gossett Jr. channels Paige's mythic calm and buried rage.
Production
Period detail that feels lived-in, not museum-dusty.
Director
Richard A. Colla
Louis Gossett Jr.
Leroy 'Satchel' Paige
Beverly Todd
Lahoma Brown Paige
Cleavon Little
Rabbit Thompson
Clifton Davis
Cool Papa Bell
Hal Williams
Carl Roberts
Taylor Lacher
Announcer
Jim Davis
Mr. Wilkenson
Ossie Davis
Chuffy Russell
Tonea Stewart
Mama Paige
J.R. Horne
Mr. Andrews
Don Blakely
Bartender
Candy Ann Brown
Ramona
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Louis Gossett Jr. studied actual footage of Paige's delivery, noting his 'no-windup' style was strategic—less strain, longer career.
The TV movie aired in 1981, same year MLB finally recognized Negro League stats, making its timing almost eerily pointed.
No ratings yet
Reactions from the web
I remember watching this as a kid. This, Bingo Long and the Ron LeFlore One In A Million were my favorite baseball movies as a kid. Please upload the full movie...thank you.
@IceManLikeGervin 12
They are héroes in the Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 we love this guys down here we even got streets name after them and big statue
@sinanestesia4010 6
Please rerelease this...😢😢
@HezakiaAtkinson 5
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
US
