Thursday, January 26, 2006

Negro League Legend

Larry LeGrande- The last catcher of the greatest pitcher - Satchel Paige
He was raised on a mini farm building his physique by hard labor. Digging post holes by hand and tamping dirt with an iron tamping rod made him into a strong young man. Little did he know then that one day he would be catcher to one of baseball's greatest if not THE greatest pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige.
He got his start with the Memphis Red Sox playing with renowned country music artist Charley Pride who was a pitcher for the Memphis team at the time. Later LeGrande was picked up by the Detroit Stars and played with such greats as Prince Joe Henry, and Goose Tatum.
Larry played minor league ball in the New York Yankees organization and despite hitting over .300 and leading the league in R.B.I. was denied the chance to play in the white major leagues.
In 1963 he joined one of the last hurahs of an era we shall never see again - Satchel Paige's All Stars. He was in fact one of the very last to catch Satchel Paige and history can still be heard in the echo of Ol' Satch's ball in his mitt.
A piece of this history is made available to you through the T.M.C. Store.
Please visit our store to see how you can own a Larry LeGrande autographed baseball!
Larry would like to thank you for visiting his site and encourages you to stop back soon as we will be constantly updating it!
An exclusive interview with Larry LeGrande posted at right, click to listen!