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Playing Catch with Satchel Paige
By Angela Lento
In 31 years as a head coach, Dave Whitney has amassed nearly 550 wins, has taken his teams to 12 post season tournaments, been named SWAC coach of the year ten times and the accolades go on and on.
The man, affectionately known by his peers as “Wiz,” is not only one of the most accomplished coaches in the game today, but he is also one of the most loved.
Prior to the start of the season, the 71-year old coach announced that this would be his final season as a head coach. And his final year at the helm has been special, as his Alcorn State Braves once again won the SWAC regular season championship.
But a funny thing happened on his way to retirement. He changed his mind.
The 2002-2003 season will be another chapter in this coaching saga, which began some 50 years ago on the baseball diamond.
In the early 1950’s Dave Whitney played for famed Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues. Jackie Robinson was now a star in the Major Leagues’ for Brooklyn, while others like Larry Doby (Cleveland), Monte Irvin (New York Giants) and Satchel Paige (Cleveland) were showing the baseball world that their inclusion in game was long overdue.
But many future stars were still wowing fans, while playing their baseball for teams like the Birmingham Black Barons, Homestead Grays, Indianapolis Clowns and Pittsburgh Crawfords.
And in 1952, one such player signed with Chicago Cubs, paving the way for a young Whitney to play shortstop. You might recognize the name.
“Ernie Banks was the shortstop in 1951 and when he signed with Chicago it gave me an opportunity to play everyday,” says Whitney. “I didn’t quite have the same talent that Ernie Banks had, but I could play a little.”
Whitney was discovered by the Monarchs while playing for an integrated team in Lexington, Kentucky in the mid-1940’s. Bill White who went on to star with the St. Louis Cardinals and was later commissioner for the National League, was among those Whitney played with.
“We had a heck of a ball club,” says Whitney. “We played all the great Negro League teams of the era and here I was a skinny young 16-year old shortstop playing with and against a lot of future major league all-stars.”
Whitney’s Lexington Hustlers faced the likes of Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and one of the game’s greatest power hitters of all-time, Josh Gibson.
“I played one game against Josh Gibson,” says Whitney. “He was already a big time star. Everybody knew who Josh was. I can remember being scared to go up and say hello to him. I never did, but he said hello to a baseball with his bat. He hit a home run in the 11th inning to beat us and I think that baseball is still going.”
What Josh Gibson was to hitting, the legendary Satchel Paige was to pitching and entertaining. And Whitney got an opportunity to play catch with the man widely considered to be one of the greatest hurlers to ever take to the mound.
“Satchel use to go around the country and pitch three innings for a lot of different teams to increase the fan attendance,” says Whitney. “One time he came to pitch for our team and I was excited and energetic so I grabbed a mitt to go warm him up. He told me to put a chewing gum wrapper on the ground and he was splitting that thing wide open. Of course I was a firey young kid so as hard as he threw it to me I through it back to him just as hard.”
At the time it just seemed like the chance of a lifetime for the young Whitney, but some five years later, the two would cross paths again.
“I was playing for the Monarchs at that time and Satchel was pitching that day,” says Whitney. “After we finished taking infield practice, he sat down next to me in the dugout and said, ‘don’t I know you?’ I said I don’t know, but you may know me. He asked me where I was from and I told him Lexington, Kentucky. Then he said, ‘oh yeah you are that smart little S.O.B. who kept throwing the ball back hard to me.”
But Paige wasn’t the only one with a great memory. Whitney can vividly recall pitch sequences, great games and big hits.
On one afternoon at Victory Field, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Whitney witnessed something that is as fresh in his mind as if it happened yesterday.
“I can live to 2,000 years old and I don’t think I will ever see something as incredible as I saw on that day,” laughs Whitney. “I was playing shortstop and a guy by the name of Willie Brown was at bat. The pitcher bounced a pitch in front of home plate and I lost sight of it. The next time I saw the ball it was sailing over the flagpole.”
Hall of Famer Ted “Double-Duty” Radcliffe originally scouted Whitney, while he was still in high school. Radcliffe tried to sign Whitney for the Indianapolis Clowns, but his father was insistent that Whitney attend college and complete his education.
So he enrolled at Kentucky State, where he earned more athletic letters than any other athlete in KSU history, including letters in basketball, baseball, football and track. For his accomplishments, he was later inducted into the KSU Hall of Fame.
And after serving in the Armed Forces, Whitney took a swing at his goal of one day playing in the Major Leagues.
“There is no doubt in my mind that had I stuck with it that I would have made the big leagues,” says Whitney. “I was a pretty good ball player back then and had I just stuck with a little longer I think I would have been signed.”
Whitney was a perennial .300 hitter in an era when hitting .300 was the measuring stick of greatness. Negro League legend and future Hall of Famer, Buck O’Neill called him the best bad-ball hitter he had ever seen. And the Major League scouts were very interested in signing him.
But the interest, praise and lofty batting numbers did not put food on the table. And as the decade of the 1950’s rolled on, the attendance at games continued to diminish. With most of its best players now in the Major Leagues, Negro League Baseball had reached the bottom of the ninth inning.
“Buck O’Neill kept telling me to stick with it,” says Whitney. “But I had a family and baseball wasn’t paying the bills. A lot of scouts came to see me play and on one occasion I thought they were coming down to sign me, but when they didn’t I got frustrated and decided it was time to use my education and provide for my family.”
But over 45 years later, in the twilight of his basketball-coaching career, Whitney has no regrets.
“My wife [Bernice] asks me all the time if I regret not sticking with baseball,” says Whitney. “I don’t regret my decision at all. I have been so blessed to have a wonderful wife and family. Through the years I have had the opportunity to work with and know so many great people. I still love baseball, but if I had it all to do over again I would do it the same way.”
It’s been quite a journey around the bases for a guy that once had a babysitter named Wilma Rudolph. The same Wilma Rudolph who became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics.
And it’s been a golden career for coach Whitney as well.
Baseball’s loss is basketball’s gain.
Angela Lento is a big supporter of the “Bobbi Olson Foundation” and would like to urge you to make a contribution. For more information Click Here
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