Hey all,
Here's another one for ya:
Satchel Paige, 1935, 16" x 12"
I had never seen the original photograph before, until a collector shared it with me randomly. I pretty much dropped everything I was doing and got to painting it--clear portraits of Satchel during the beginning of his career (funny to think that in 1935, he's in his 10th season or so of professional ball, and it's still *early*) are virtually non-existent.
Anywho, not only was the portrait super clear, but I LOVED the narrative with the uniform and cap. Paige had come to the Monarchs (for the first time, no less) at some point in late 1935, after his stint with Bismarcks. It was with the latter club that Paige built on the legend he had started during the Denver Post Tournament in '34. Bismarck finished the season with a 60-19-3 record, and secured an invitation to the National Semi-Professional Baseball Championship Tournament. At that tournament the team went undefeated at 7-0, with Paige winning four games and striking out 60 batters, thus becoming the first fully-integrated club to win a national championship.
So, here we have Paige in his Kansas City duds wearing his Bismarcks hat, most likely because when he joined, the club probably didn't actually have an extra Monarchs one to give him! Knowing how MLB is now with whatever they give (and CAN give) to players and the such, it's amazing to think of how NOT uniform things could be in the Negro Leagues. Truly a different time.
Any comments, questions, and critiques are always welcome!!
Thanks again for reading.
Graig