Here lies Hilton Smith, one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the Negro Leagues. And the reason he isn’t celebrated more today is because he was frequently teammates with the greatest pitcher in the history of the Negro Leagues – and who wouldn’t be overshadowed by Satchel Paige? Smith played for the Monroe … Continue reading Grave Story: Hilton Smith (1907-1983)
Given the death count of 2020, writing stories about the gravesites that I've visited has had to take a back seat to keeping up with current obituaries. That's unfortunate, because it's a lot of fun to dig through newspaper archives to glean information about a forgotten outfielder or someone who pitched in a single game. … Continue reading A year’s worth of baseball history: the best of RIP Baseball’s Grave Stories
RIP to former pitcher Henry "Pistol" Mason, whose journey took him from the Negro Leagues to the major leagues to the pulpit. Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, announced that Mason died on May 29 at the age of 88. Mason started his career with the Kansas City Monarchs before spending parts … Continue reading Obituary: Henry Mason (1931-2020)
There are a million stories on Satchel Paige, more than can ever fit into one short bio on the man. I told a few of them in Paige’s Grave Story, but there’s one great one here that I had to leave out for the sake of brevity. So I’ll present it here, in Paige’s own … Continue reading Satchel Paige pitches for his life
Here lies Satchel Paige, one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. Even though he was prevented from playing Major League Baseball until late in his career, his legend was large enough that he was one of the most famous (and well-paid) pitchers in baseball for decades. After more than 20 years of pitching in … Continue reading Grave Story: Satchel Paige (1906?-1982)
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