Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times
- Art Pennington hasn’t faced Satchel Paige in nearly 60 years, but he’s at the plate now, batting from the left side here in the water-damaged basement of a 50-year-old clapboard house.
“Oh boy,” Pennington says, shaking his head. “I didn’t hit him then. I won’t hit him now.”
With that, the former Negro League All-Star rolls red dice across a rickety card table. When they come to a stop, the man sitting next to him consults a color-coded rectangular card: Pennington has hit a soft grounder back to the mound. He’s an easy out at first.
“Sounds about right,” Pennington, 86, says with a chuckle. After all, the player they called “Superman” had more wives — five — than hits against Paige in a 22-year baseball career in which he batted well over .300.
