Don't Look Back

Rod Barajas on Cole Hamels following yesterday's impressive outing:
"He's as good as anyone I've ever caught."

That is certainly high praise for young Cole. It was, after all, Barajas who caught Negro League legend Satchel Paige during an exhibition game when the catcher's barnstorming nine of runaway children passed through Kansas City, Missouri, in May of 1981. The team's young pitcher, a crafty lefty by the name of Oscar Chaffey, had flu-like symptoms on that day and Mr. Paige, 75 and still slingin' 'em, kindly offered the young vagabonds his services. He went five strong, striking out ten of the opposing local wainwrights union without allowing a run. Alas, the scoreless game was called due to a tornado warning. The wainwrights, so impressed with their young opponents' grit, presented them with a stunning new wagon. And so the itinerant young cubs rode eastward in grand style.

Paige's (official) Barajas number is 4. Paige pitched three innings for the 1965 Kansas City Athletics and was joined on that 103 loss roster by Blue Moon Odom, who pitched just one inning. Blue Moon was a teammate of Jerry Hairston Sr. on the 1976 Chicago White Sox. Hairston's son, Jerry Hairston Jr., played with Barajas on the 2006 Texas Rangers.