Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever: A Great Baseball Player Tells the Hilarious Story behind the Legend

In Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, LeRoy “Satchel” Paige’s classic baseball autobiography (as told to David Lipman), the great pitcher of the Negro Leagues (and later with a few short stints in the major leagues) tells his story in his own quirky way, in his own inimitable voice. Satch, one of the iconic characters of the game, fully displays his smooth blend of good humor, playful braggadocio, and occasional broad exaggerations that border on Bunyanesque tall tales. This is as close as one can get to actually sitting down with the man and listening to his life story firsthand. One of the essential baseball bios.

Is it still arrogance when you really are that good? Satchel Paige was one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball, and he knew it. This autobiography, told to David Lipman in the early 1960s, is an extremely entertaining account of Paige's astonishingly long career in professional baseball, from barnstorming across the country to the Negro Leagues to several seasons in the majors (including Paige being
seriously considered for Rookie of the Year at the ripe old age of 42).

At multiple points throughout the book, Paige laments the racism that kept him out of the majors; he heard many times "If only you were white...." and he knew full well that not only was he good enough for the majors, he was good enough to be one of the best in history. He expresses private bitterness at not being the man chosen to integrate the major leagues, though as he admits his personality presumably had more to do with that than his talent, even in his 40s.

Paige was a notorious bullshitter, and it's best not to believe everything you read here; read it for the descriptions of an incredible career told entertainingly, not for a precisely detailed and 100% history. Recommended for baseball history fans.