Gene Carney - "Satchel"

The very names of his teams
Stir up other-wordly visions:
Birmingham Black Barons
Nashville Elite Giants
Chattanooga Black Lookouts
Crawfords and Monarchs
Stars and the Black Sox
Who weren't turned out
But never let in either

The very names of his pitches
Stir up colorful visions:
Little Tom and Long
Radio and B Balls
Two-hump Blooper
And the Hesi-
Tation

Ina game where records
Are part of the mystique
Satchel's birth date was uncertain
Seemed like he was born pitching
and destined to throw forever
His own

Even then
In his four decades
Mostly in the shadows
Before the awful eclipse ended
There was no one like
Lanky Leroy Paige
Don't bother to look back

Did that oldest rookie ever die
Or does he live on yet
Folk hero separate but equal
Always somewhat separate
Always at least equal