So then we heard that he was going to pitch three innings.

I mean, what a thrill that he was there.

I mean, we knew who he was.

He's a legend.

His satchel page.

He's great.

His sinkers, he dropped the foot.

Are you kidding me?

Part of the beauty of our great game known as baseball is that we've had some brilliant and somewhat aloof promoters in this game.

Two of them who really are connected through this particular episode of Black Diamonds,

the great Bill Vick, and of course, Charlie Finley.

And maybe old Charlie got some of his ideas from the legendary Bill Vec, who was also known as SportsShirt Bill and Wild Bill,

and I'm sure he was called a few other things.

But the man was absolutely brilliant.

And the connection that they also share is they are both tied to the legendary Leroy-Satchel page.

Now, as we take a deeper dive into Vec's story in particular, it wasn't so far-fetched that Bill Vec,

and of course this has been debated whether or not it was true, had attempted to buy the Philadelphia Phillies in 1942.

And it was known that VEC was considering filling the team with former Negro League stars.

Now in 1942, Leroy Satchel Page and his Kansas City Monarchs were winning the Negro League World Series.

They shut down the powerful homestead grades.

As a matter of fact, they swept them four games to none.

And it was in that 1942 Negro League World Series where Buck O'neill told the epic story of how satchel

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