The largest crowd ever to attend a minor league game, an audience of about 57,000, showed up on August 7, 1956 to watch 51-year-old Satchel Paige at the Orange Bowl. Paige managed to hit a double and to earn the win, leading the Miami Marlins to victory over the Columbus Jets, 6-2.
I love everything Satchel Paige-ish … and I especially love this. Plus, it’s doubly impressive when you realize that many minor league teams play in parks that are so small that their SEASON attendance barely hits 57,000. It was, of course, Bill Veeck that came up with this “let’s have a game in the Orange Bowl” idea. We all need to dream big like him!
But, ooops, one tiny thing … the game was in 1956, not 1951. Satchel Paige was still playing in the majors in 1951.
Good catch! Thank you, I’ll make the edit. And yes, Veeck was something else. So was Satch!
I always tell my Yoga students that every true Yoga student needs a Yoga guru and that Satchel Paige is mine … then I read them his “How To Stay Young” rules. 🙂
I love those rules. So fitting for yoga, too! 🙂