1960 Salina Blue Jays: The Year Satchel Paige Came to Town

A small a bigger story sometimes hides behind a bit of information. That bit came in this line I read a few years ago in Larry Tye’s book, Satchel: In 1960 he [Satchel Paige] threw for the Salina [Kan.] Blue Jays …. I had no idea. Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige was arguable one of the best 10-or-so pitchers who played baseball. He was a Hall of Famer on the field, but he was an even better showman. What was one of the greatest players doing playing on a team in Kansas? I’m a Kansas native. Throughout my life, I’ve had a deep connection with Salina. I lived less than an hour away from the city when I was growing up. Some of my family members still live there. Heck, I was even married there. Because of that, I needed to know what brought Paige to the middle of nowhere to play baseball one summer so long ago. Salina was hardly a hotbed for athletic achievement back then. Pigeon racing and skeet shooting dominated the sports headlines. But when people weren’t racing birds or figuring how to shoot them, they had ba