Looking back................................

Leroy "Satchel" Paige (1908-1982)  had a FORTY year career as a professional baseball player.  A right handed pitcher, he dominated in the Negro Leagues, until 1948, when he became the oldest "rookie" in Major League Baseball.   As a Cleveland Indian in 1948, as a 40 year old, Paige ended the  season with a 6–1 record with a 2.48 ERA, 2 shutouts, 43 strikeouts, 22 walks and 61 base hits allowed in 72²⁄₃ innings.  He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.  Read more about him here.  He was also fairly quotable.  Here are a few:

“Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.”

"There ain't no man can avoid being born average. But there ain't no man got to be common."

"Money and women. They're two of the strongest things in the world. The things you do for a woman you wouldn't do for anything else. Same with money."

"Not to be cheered by praise, not to be grieved by blame, but to know thoroughly one's own virtues or powers are the characteristics of an excellent man.'

"Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter."

"Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching."

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"

“Sometimes I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits”

“You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.” 

"The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second class citizen to a second class immortal."