As the Satchel Paige League grows older, we get closer and closer to our first Hall of Fame inductees. Some of this year's nominees might have the resume to earn their plaque. Some of the more accomplished players are below…
Desi Gongora had a very good 12 season SPL career. He only played for three teams, all in the AL: the St. Louis Redbirds, the Baltimore Revolution and the Scottsdale Camels. He won two World Series rings. One was with the Redbirds in Season 4 and the other was with the Revolution in Season 10. Gongora was named to 6 All Star games and was also named to the Satchel Paige News All Decade I: Second Team. He was never the best pitcher on his team, but was always the perfect #2. He was very consistent and highly durable. In every one of his first nine big league seasons, he made at least 30 starts and hurled 188 innings. He never won 20 games during a season, but he did win at least 14 games in 8 of his first 9 seasons. He also had back-to-back 19 win seasons for the Redbirds in Seasons 5 and 6. For his career, he racked up nearly 2,000 strikeouts (1,957), 176 wins (against only 102 losses) and an ERA of 4.10.
Billy Ray Magee was one of the best offensive catchers in the early years of the SPL. He was named to 5 All Star teams in his 10 full time seasons and won 3 Silver Slugger Awards as well. He was also named to the Satchel Paige League News All Decade I: Second Team. In the first 8 seasons of his career, he hit less than 30 home runs only once, and drove in less than 100 runs only once. He was a very disciplined hitter as well, drawing 639 walks in his career. He had a career batting average of .298, a career OBP of .382 with 419 career home runs. His best year (and, arguably the best single season in league history) was in Season 1. He scored 154 runs, hit 26 doubles, 78 home runs, drove in 226 runs, drew 87 walks and only struck out 66 times… while playing in Petco Park! The 226 RBI he had that season is still an all time, single season record.
Mateo Manzanillo proved during the course of his career, he was one of the most versatile pitchers in baseball. He appeared in 383 games… starting 192 of them and coming out of the pen for the other 191. He won a Cy Young Award in Season 2, won a Gold Glove Award in Season 4 and was named to 4 All Star teams. He was also named to the Satchel Paige League News All Decade I: Second Team. He has a career record of 104-55, with 16 saves, 1140 strikeouts and a career ERA of 3.59. His best season (and his Cy Young season) was Season 2. He went 25-6 with a 2.13 ERA and 233 strikeouts. He was on his way to another great year in Season 3, before he needed major elbow surgery, ending his season. He recovered though, and was named to 2 of his 4 All Star games after his surgery. He earned a reputation as a great big game pitcher as well. In 37 postseason games (12 starts, 25 relief appearances) he pitched 124 innings. His record was 10-2 with 3 saves and an ERA of 2.82.
Chin-Hui Martin is one of the most decorated and respected players in the history of the SPL. He won a World Series title with the Redbirds in Season 4. He was one of the key cogs in that championship squad. He was named to 7 All Star games and won 7 Silver Slugger Awards as well as the Season 1 AL Rookie of the Year Award. He was named to the Satchel Paige League News All Decade I: Second Team, and was also named #3 on the Satchel Paige League News: Top Ten Position Players list. Martin started his career in LF but moved to 2B after just a couple of seasons. Martin is almost certainly the most potent offensive 2B in the history of the league. His 438 career doubles ranks 3rd all time and his 1384 runs ranks 4th all time. He has accumulated 442 home runs, 2296 hits, 1537 RBI with a .317 average and an OPS of .962. He hit 30+ home runs in all of his first 10 seasons. He had 110+ RBI in his first eight straight seasons, and had at least 90 RBI in two other seasons. His batting average was .295+ in 9 of his first 10 seasons. He had 4 seasons of 200+ hits, and at least 190 hits in three others. His 195 RBI in Season 8 is still a Redbirds’ franchise record. Martin has the strongest HOF resume that we have yet seen.
Newman was a professional, line drive hitter, who is capable of driving the ball to all fields. He has a well deserved reputation for being especially tough on left handed pitching. He was named to 7 All Star games and won 3 Silver Slugger Awards. He was also named #8 on the Satchel Paige League News Top Ten Position Players list. His 426 doubles ranks 5th all time. He has very similar offensive numbers to his positional counter part Chin-Hui Martin, although he wasn't quite as fast and was a weaker defensive player. Still, his offensive numbers are pretty impressive. He had 7 seasons with 190+ hits, 7 seasons with 30+ home runs, 8 seasons with 100+ RBI and 9 seasons with 30+ doubles. His Season 1 total of 65 doubles is still tied for the 3rd highest single season mark in SPL history. During his career, Newman totalled a batting average of .324, with an OBP .395, 340 home runs, 1292 RBI, 2036 hits and the aforementioned 426 doubles. Newman has been one of the best 2B in the early history of the SPL.
Takada's career was 13 seasons long. Eleven of those season were spent with Monterrey, before spending one season with Boston and one with Chicago as a part time player. Kazuhiro Takada has built a well deserved reputation as having the best batter’s eye in the league. He has been named to 5 All Star games, won 2 Silver Slugger Awards and an MVP Award. He was also ranked #5 on the Satchel Paige League News Top Ten Position Players list. That great batter’s eye has made him very difficult to strike out; he has never struck out more than 87 times in a season and only whiffed more than 70 times in four seasons. He has drawn more walks (1174) than any other player in SPL history. His 1373 runs ranks 5th all time. His career OBP of .435 and OPS of 1.037 both rank 4th all time. He has had 7 seasons with 30+ home runs; and in 6 of those seasons he had at least 40 round trippers. He also has 7 seasons with at least 100 RBI. Takada's career numbers are certainly HOF worthy. His career batting average of .325, OBP of .435 and SLG of .599 are amongst the highest in league history. He has 2045 hits, 450 home runs and 1397 RBI. There are really only two knocks on his HOF resume. First, he is relatively light on hardware. You'd think a player of his caliber would have made more than 5 All Star Games. Second, is his position. If Takada played CF, 2B or SS and put up those same numbers, he would be in the HOF without a doubt. But Takada was a 1B. And there were some of his contemporaries who played at 1st who put up numbers that were a bit more prolific. Time will tell if voters will overlook these deficiencies and decide that Takada's elite career is enough for a bust in the Hall.
Clarence Thomas was the best starting pitcher in the American League in the early days of the SPL. He won three consecutive Cy Young Awards (Seasons 1-3) and was named to 4 All Star teams. While Thomas’ career was short (he was 28 when the league started) he is one of only 2 players to win 3 consecutive Cy Youngs. He has a winning percentage of over 70%, going 110-47 for his career. He also posted 3 straight 20-win seasons. His career K/BB ratio is better than 2-1. He has 1,006 career strikeouts and a career ERA of 3.48. His best season was probably his third Cy Young season, Season 3. He went 24-2, pitched 262 innings, had an ERA of 2.30 and struck out 166 batters. Thomas was very close to being voted into the HOF in Season 9, earning 13 votes.
