Hot Stove: 2/22

African American Player Profile

Satchel Paige (Pitched professionally from 1926-1947, then in majors from 1948-1953 and 1965)

Paige, who saw more than 40 years between his first and last professional pitches, was arguably the greatest and most dominant pitcher of all time. Though he did not get a chance to pitch in the major leagues until he was 42, Paige dominated the Negro Leagues and other professional divisions. Because the Negro Leagues leave us little trace of statistic, we are left with only stories, though it is believed that he won 291 games between the Negro Leagues (1926-1947), North Dakota League (1933, 1935), Dominican League (1937), Mexican League (1938), Cuban Winter League (1930), California Winter League (1931-1947), Puerto Rican League (1940-1948), Major Leagues (1948-1953, 1965), and minor leagues (1956-1958, 1961, 1966). One story that stands out came when he was pitching in semi-pro ball as a teenager. Up just one run in the ninth inning, his teammates made three consecutive errors to load the bases with two outs. Angry to say the least, Paige demanded his outfielders sit down in the infield. He then struck out the final batter to win the game. Another story comes from the Negro Leagues, where a seriously fatigued Paige called his catcher to the mound, where he told him that his arm was dead and that he could not throw one more pitch. Ironically, because only one more pitch was needed to win the game. Paige devised a plan where he would and the ball to his catcher beforehand, then pretend to throw a pitch. The catcher would pound his glove, as if to signal he caught the ball. Paige pitched so quickly anyway that the naked eye had trouble picking up the ball. Paige "pitched", and sure enough, the tactic worked. The batter was out on a called strike three, to which he proclaimed "Come on! That was outside!" Satchel pitched in the majors from 1948-1953, going 29-31 with a 3.31 ERA. In a one game in 1965, Paige became the oldest player of all time at 59 years old, then tossed three shutout innings, dropping his career ERA to 3.29. He was then inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.

Free Agent Signings

Yankees signed Raul Ibanez (20 HR, 84 RBI, .245 AVG, 2 SB, 2012 age: 40) to a one-year, $1.1 million deal.

A's signed Manny Ramirez (0 HR, 1 RBI, .059 AVG, 0 SB, 2012 age: 40) to a minor league deal.

Indians agreed to terms with Christian Guzman (missed 2011 season, 62 career HR, .271 AVG, 2012 age: 34) on a minor league deal.

Raul Ibanez gives the Yankees what they have been looking for; a left-handed DH option to team with Russell Branyan. Ibanez, a late bloomer, is on the steady track downward of his stellar career. Just last season, Ibanez hit his 250th career home run, knocked in his 1,000th career run, and earned his 3,000th total base. His two breakout years were in 2001, his sixth season in the majors, and 2002, his seventh. After five years with the Mariners in which he never played in more than 92 games or batted over .258, Ibanez broke out with the Royals in 2001 by hitting 13 home runs and batting .280 in 104 games. He broke out even further in 2002, when he hit 24 home runs, knocked in 103, and batted .294 in 137 games. After a few years of productivity, he had arguably his best season in 2006, when he hit 33 home runs, knocked in 123 runs, and batted .289 in 159 games for the Mariners. He proceeded to knock in 100 runs again in 2007 and 2008, then set a career high with 34 home runs in 2009 with the Phillies. Since then, Ibanez has been on the downhill, as his .245 average in 2011 was his lowest since he hit .229 in 92 games in 2000, 11 years earlier. He did hit 20 home runs for the seventh time in ten years and sixth time in seven years, while also knocking in 84 runs in 144 games. Over his 16-year career, he has hit 252 home runs, knocked in 1,054, and batted .280 with 44 stolen bases in 1,817 games. He was named to his only All Star team in 2009. 

The A's made a controversial signing with Manny Ramirez, an over-the-hill hitter who has gotten into more than his share of trouble as of late. Manuel Aristides "Manny" Ramirez has been one of the premier hitters of baseball over the past fifteen years, but his steroid use and reckless antics have given him infamy in the baseball world. Forced to miss 50 games after usage banned substance during the "Mannywood"era in which he hit .396 with 17 homers in 53 games.  He then was caught a second time and decided to retire rather than serve the subsequent 100 game suspension. That suspension has been reduced to fifty games, which he must serve at the beginning of 2012. The A's are willing to have him serve that, as he hit .298 with nine home runs in his last major action, 90 games in 2010 with the Dodgers and White Sox, granted he was on PEDs. Over his 19-year career, he has hit 555 home runs and batted .312 in 2,302 games.

Trades

Cubs sent Chris Carpenter (0-0, 2.79 ERA, .316 BAA, 2012 age: 26) and a player to be named later to the Red Sox as compensation for general manager Theo Epstein along with a player to be named later.

Indians traded minor leaguer Kelvin De La Cruz (5-6, 4.19 ERA, .227 BAA, 2 saves, 2012 age: 23) to the Rangers for cash considerations. 

Other News

Closing great Mariano Rivera announced that 2012 will be his final season.
Mariners manager Eric Wedge says that he plans to hit Ichiro Suzuki third in the lineup.
 
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Teams followed in this update: Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.

HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. BAA: batting average against. K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman