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Atlanta Braves: 50 years ago today, Satchel Paige became a Brave

Many know the name Satchel Paige. The fun-loving, outspoken pitcher played for years in the Negro Leagues before breaking plenty of barriers for African-American pitchers, the first pitcher to have pitched in the Negro Leagues to pitch in the World Series. Then 42 years after he pitched in his first professional game for the Chattanooga Black Lookouts in 1926, he signed with the Atlanta Braves in 1968.

For a player who broke through many racial barriers, 1968 was a tough year. In April, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. In June, civil rights leader Robert F.