On Feb. 9, 1971, pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige became the first Negro League veteran to be nominated to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He was later inducted on August 1971.

Paige was a pitching legend that boasted an epic career spanning five decades, and marked by his distinctive fastball and magnetic showmanship. He was known as the best pitcher in the Negro Leagues and continued to be a stand-out player when he joined a major league team, the Cleveland Indians, in 1948 at age 42.

Although Paige’s exact birth date was never known, his date of birth is believed to be sometime around July 7, 1906. Paige’s nickname, Satchel, was given to him as a child when he worked in train stations, carrying passengers' bags for money.

He died on June 8, 1982, in Kansas City, Missouri.

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 (Photo: Photo File/Getty Images)