Eight years ago today, Rafael Palmeiro became the 19^th player in Major League Baseball history to hit 500 home runs. Palmeiro, as a Texas Ranger, vaulted himself into the 500 home run club against the Cleveland Indians’ David Elder. His 500^th came in the 7^th inning with two on and two out and the Rangers already winning 9-5. Palmeiro’s home run knocked in the game deciding run as the Rangers would go on to win the game 17-10. Palmeiro would go on to hit a total of 569 home runs in his career and play in the majors for 20 years.

In bringing Palmeiro’s accomplishment up around the office, we found that there are some mixed reviews on his feat. Because Palmeiro was indicated in Jose Canseco 2005 tell all steroid book and the 2007 Mitchell Report, a lot of people write off his hitting accomplishments (Palmeiro is also only one of four players to have at least 500 homeruns and 3,000 hits for his career). How do you feel about Palmeiro being a member of the 500 home run club?

On February 9, 1971, Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige became the first player from the Negro Leagues to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Born in 1906 in Mobile, Alabama, Satchel got his nickname as a young boy working as a porter at a train station, toting numerous bags at once. In 1918, at age 12, he was sent to a state reform school where he first learned to pitch.

Satchel became known as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, pitching in both the Negro Leagues and Major League Baseball. Paige's pitching skills were legendary. Joe DiMaggio once referred to Satchel Paige as "the best and fastest pitcher I've ever faced." Paige played for numerous Negro League teams throughout 1927-1943. Birmingham Black Barons, Baltimore Black Sox, Cleveland Cubs, Pittsburgh Crawfords, Kansas City Monarchs, New York Black Yankees, and the Memphis Red Sox to name a few. When the Negro League was not playing in the winter, Paige would pitch exhibition games in the Caribbean and Mexico.      

In 1948, Bill Veeck, the Cleveland Indians' owner, was in desperate need of a pitcher and decided to take a chance on Paige. In July 1948, Paige signed his first major league contract for $40,000 for the few months remaining in the season, becoming the first Negro pitcher in the American League. Paige was the oldest major league rookie ever when he joined the Indians in 1948. Paige played for the Indians until 1949, moved on to pitch for the St. Louis Browns from 1951-1953 and then Kansas City Athletics in 1965. He ended his major league career with a 28-31 record and a 3.29 ERA.

Satchel Paige passed away in 1982 in Kansas City, Missouri. On July 28, 2006, a statue of Satchel Paige was unveiled in Cooper Park located in Cooperstown, New York commemorating the contributions of the Negro Leagues to baseball. 

"I never had a job. I always played baseball." - Satchel Paige.

The photo below shows Satchel Paige with Jackie Robinson, Kansas City Monarchs second baseman.

At 9:15 pm on Wednesday, December 15^th, baseball lost one of its greatest pitchers of all time. After struggling acute leukemia since August, Bob Feller passed away of pneumonia at the age of 92 in Cleveland, OH.

Feller was born in Van Meter, Iowa on November 3^rd, 1918. Growing up, Feller only knew 2 things, farming and baseball. He picked up a baseball in his early teens and quickly developed a knack for the game. After hearing stories about a 16 year old kid in Iowa being able to throw lightning quick fastballs, a scout from the Cleveland Indians went to go pay Feller a visit. When that scout left the Feller Farm, Bob Feller was signed to the Cleveland Indians. He would completely bypass the minors and make his first start with the Indians at the age of 17. At the end of his rookie season, Feller left the team and went back to Iowa so he could graduate from high school.

Feller became the first player to eclipse 20 wins in a season before the age of 21 by racking up 24 wins in the 1939 season. He followed up that performance with a 27 win season in 1940 and a 25 win season in 1941. He also threw the only opening day no hitter in baseball history in 1940. After the Attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941, Feller left the Indians to voluntarily join the Navy. He served 3 1/2 years in the Pacific before rejoining the Indians during the backend of 1945 season. In his first full season back with the team, Feller won 26 games and threw 36 complete games.

Over the course of his 18 seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Feller threw 3 no hitters and 12 one hitters. He won a total of 266 games, and probably would have eclipsed 300 wins if he hadn’t missed almost 4 full seasons during WWII. Feller won 20 or more games in a season six times, he lead the league in strikeouts seven times and was an 8 time All-Star. He won a World Series Championship in 1948 when the Indians beat the Boston Braves. Feller’s #19 jersey was retired by the Indians in 1957, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 in his first year of eligibility. In 2010, at the young age of 91, Bob Feller threw out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day for the Indians.

Rest in peace Rapid Robert.

We want to hear from you.  We get lots of requests for Indians jerseys and we're having a hard time landing on the right players to try to sign.  We're pretty good with guys from the flannel era, but we're talking about the guys who wore some of these great jerseys.

Help us out.  Who is that Indians player that Tribe fans love and want us to honor with his jersey?