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This is fresh air.

I'm Dave Davies.

A recent New York Times sports page headline reads,

Did Page throw nearly eight times as many no-hitters as Ryan?

That would be Negro League's pitcher Satchle Page

and Major League pitcher Nolan Ryan.

That's the kind of a question that's come up recently since Major League Baseball

announced it would for the first time officially include player statistics from the Negro leagues

and its historical record. You can get an argument

about it, but some believe the greatest pitcher who ever lived was Leroy Satchel Page.

In his prime, it said his fastball was so terrifying some opposing batters would call in sick

Our guest author Larry Tyte writes that in the 1940s no one was better known or more beloved among black Americans, not Joe Lewis, not

Count Basie or Duke Ellington, because Satchel was unstoppable on the mound, and because he played and lived with such style and charm.

Satchel Paige played his best seasons before baseball was integrated, so he didn't get

the years and records in the big leagues he might have, but he is in the Hall of Fame and

holds the record for being the oldest player ever to throw a pitch in the majors at age 59.

Ty says there's another story in Satchel's rich and colorful life about race in America

and how Satchel's barnstorming through American towns brought black and white fans

...