Satchel Makes First '45 Appearance & Jackie Is Perfect At The Plate

The Monarchs and American Giants returned to Chicago for a Memorial Day double header. Satchel Paige was on the mound for the Monarchs in game one. This marks the first time Satchel joined the 1945 squad. He was primarily a Monarch from 1940-1947, but he never really belonged to just one team. He was the ultimate free agent, making one-off appearances with any team willing to part with a big enough cut of the gate. Satch may have been traveling the country making such appearances, or perhaps he just got a late start on the season.

Satchel pitched six frames for KC, allowing two runs on just three hits and one walk. Satch struck out six. The Monarchs only managed one off familiar foe Gentry Jessup in the first six innings, so the Monarchs trailed 1-2 when Booker McDaniels took over for KC in the seventh. McDaniels shut the Giants out for his three innings, and the Monarchs managed to get three more off Jessup to claim game one 4-2.

In the second game, Hilton Smith went all seven innings and allowed just two runs but suffered a loss as Walter McCoy hurled a shutout for Chicago. The Monarchs managed just four hits off McCoy, and three of them belonged to Jackie. From the June 1 Kansas City Call: "Jackie Robinson had a perfect day at the bat in both games. He doubled, singled and tripled in the second. In the first, he walked three times and on his fourth trip to the plate singled." Not a bad day's work.

Satchel illustration by Steve Willaredt