The Hall of Fame announced 2/9/71 that Satchel Paige would be enshrined, but not in the area with major leaguers. His ex-KC Monarchs teammate Buck O’Neil said in our 1999 interview, “They were thinking about Negro League baseball: a bunch of clowns out there, just a bunch of showmen.” The HoF changed its stance & O’Neil said, “Now it’s a true Hall of Fame, this is baseball in America…it’s a lesson that it was baseball at its finest.”
