‘Swing’ takes Paige out of baseball history
Among the numerous teams Leroy “Satchel” Paige played for was the Kansas City Travelers, a name that speaks to the long and twisted road that led to his Major League Baseball debut at age 41.
Paige was a legendary ball player who got his start in the 1920s, but didn’t find his way to the Cleveland Indians until 1948, after pitching in the Negro leagues as well as organized ball in the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Mexico. He thought he should’ve been the first black player in Major League Baseball. Things worked out differently. Jackie Robinson’s story of endurance and triumph has become canonized in baseball lore, while Paige’s tale doesn’t possess the same resonance nearly 70 years later.
The play “Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing” tells part of the story of Paige’s life, career and aspirations. Starting Thursday, the Ensemble Theatre will present the show written by Try Ellis and Ricardo Khan.
“This story isn’t just about being successful in the traditional ways,” says Patdro Harris, director and choreographer of the production. “When Satchel Paige was in the Negro leagues, he was making great money. He was in that sense successful. But there were other things he wanted.”
Paige bristled that another black player broke into Major League Baseball before him. But Robinson was 28 at the time, while Paige’s peak years were behind him.
“It was a point of pride,” says actor Charles Lattimore, who plays Paige in the production. “Life afforded him some of the best of things, but in the forefront of his mind, baseball was his thing. He didn’t have any other job. He worked hard at it, and he wanted to be recognized for it.”
Much of the action of “Kansas City Swing” centers on a boarding house where Paige talks with Buck O’Neil, another Negro leagues star, and Bob Feller, a star pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. Paige’s friends nudge him toward trying once more to pitch in Major League Baseball.
“When your time comes, you have to be ready,” Lattimore says. “That’s one of the themes. It may not come when you feel that it should come. But that’s the whole story line. Just because it doesn’t come when you want it to, doesn’t mean it’s not coming.”
For “Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing” Harris worked with composer Carlton Leake to create new original music.
“It’s another way of capturing the voice of Satchel Paige,” Harris says. “Through music, you can bring out other inner thoughts. Not just the things you read about, but some intimate moments. Music can help bring out the ways we dream and think, that helps tell the story.”
Lattimore stepped into Paige’s cleats not knowing anything about him. “I don’t really follow sports,” he says.
But he says he’s enjoyed the education about Paige and that era of baseball.
“It’s wonderful in theater when you can do something that’s educational, entertaining and therapeutic,” he says. “It’s a ministry, doing theater. And this is an interesting story about how you should not take delay for denial. And that’s a story that should be interesting no matter what generation. That idea that if you set an excellent example, it’s never too late.”