I actually wonder if Paige would have succeeded if he had joined the majors in 1926. I am not questioning the talent but wondering if he would have been able to fit into the culture of the majors at that time. With the exception of Babe Ruth, the majors at this time where pretty much the in the company man mode. Teams liked sort of boring guys who played and didn’t make a lot of waves. In many ways Paige would have fit in better in the 00’s and 10’s when the game had a lot more guys of let’s call it independent spirit. It is important to remember that Paige had a lot of battles with Negro league owners and got banned a number of times for jumping contracts. And though it’s become a bit of the mythology, the jumping wasn’t just part of what the Negro leagues were. Players like Monte Irvin, Larry Doby player only for one team for years before breaking the color line and Buck Leonard played all 16 years of his NL careers for the Grays. One must remember that the Commissioner at this time really wasn’t one for forgiving and moving on. It’s easy to picture Paige doing something to piss off Landis and then just deciding to make money playing for semi pro teams like Bismarck. For example it doesn’t take much to imaging a mlb Paige deciding that the Mexican league offered better prospects and jumping in the early 1940’s and then getting banned.
It is interesting to note however that as transient as he was as a younger man, Paige basically became Bill Veeck’s most dependable middle reliever from 1948-1958 ( with the Indians, Browns and in the minors with Miami). Paige became a workhorse pitching all different types of roles for Veeck. If you haven’t seen them take a look at his Miami stats - for much of the 1950’s he was probably one of the best relievers in the minors (and he was pushing 50)
Below is a image of Paige pitching in Puerto Rico in the late 1930’s
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