8x10” glossy silver gelatin photograph. Offered here is an astonishingly crystal-clear team image in full uniforms and posed on a ballfield, highlighted by the incomparable Satchel Paige (back row, far right). A figure so revered in Negro League baseball history that only he can rival the NL’s all-time greatest slugger, Josh Gibson, for the most accomplished Negro League ballplayer ever. Others shown in this photo include Henry Kimbro, Dick Seay, Connie Rector, Johnny Hayes, Anthony Cooper, Spencer Davis, Bill Holland. Paige began his US Negro Leagues career in 1926-27 w/the Chattanooga Black Lookouts before moving on to the Birmingham Black Barons, 1927-30. The remainder of his NL career was spent primarily w/the Pittsburgh Crawfords during the mid-1930s and then the Kansas City Monarchs after that. Widely regarded as the greatest showman in Negro League baseball history, Paige drew crowds for his starting pitching assignments multiple times greater than on his non-pitching days. Paige’s time w/the Crawfords was highlighted by his pairing w/Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell and Oscar Charleston, comprising the greatest ball club in Negro League history, possibly even baseball history. In 1948, Paige was signed by the Cleveland Indians and was a team leader during their stretch drive to the American League pennant and ultimately World Championship. Satchel would spend his final couple of MLB seasons w/the St. Louis Browns under HOF owner, Bill Veeck. Paige was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, the first Negro League great to be so honored. Player names added in ink on their images, most likely by a player or someone closely associated w/the team, but most of these are now very faint. Photo has obvious and extensive aging and wear including creases, margin tears, missing pieces from margins. The image itself remains largely unaffected by these defects and in this case the rarity wins out over the condition. Richard Merkin Collection.