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Satch vs Presswood
Henry Presswood was born in Electric Mills, Mississippi on October 7, 1921. This talented infielder first signed on with the Cleveland Buckeyes in 1948 where he played for two seasons in baseball’s Negro Leagues. In 1950 the club folded and so Presswood - who played both shortstop and third base - took his glove and shoes and signed on to play with the Kansas City Monarchs, coached by legendary first baseman / manager John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil.
During his four consecutive year reign in the Baseball’s Negro Leagues, Mr. Presswood consecutive seasons - a rarity during that time among those who spent time playing in the official Negro Leagues, was a quick line-drive hitter who could run the bases like a rabbit. While others were either being called up to the Major Leagues for a tryout or two, or beginning to drop out of baseball all together Presswood pursued and eventually put together an impressive, “Black Ball Career. At a time when it perhaps was not Presswood finest moment, it certainly is one of his most memorable ones. And that was when he and his Cleveland Buckeyes were on their way to Kansas City to face the legendary pitcher of the day - and future Hall of Famer - the great Satchel Paige. As Hank tells it**, he was the only one talking up a storm during the bus ride over from Cleveland to Kansas City. “Even our big boys who were hitting over .300 were quiet during that trip,” Presswood said. “But not me. I was the only on the bus talking to everyone and everything. When we finally got to the Kansas City ballpark, the Monarchs were already out on the field warming up. As we started to get off the bus, I remember hearing this sound: Boom, Boom, Boom. I went up to our manager, Mr. Alonzo Boone and asked, ‘Hey, skipper it’s not July the Fourth, so why are they shooting off fireworks inside the ballpark?’” Boone chuckled and said, “They ain’t shooting off fireworks in there Hank. That’s just ol’Satch warming up!” As the team finished bringing in their equipment from the bus, they gathered in the dugout, sitting in amazement watching Satchel complete his warmups. “It was so quiet in that dugout you could hear a rat crawling on cotton,” Presswood remarked. After completing his warmups, Paige walked over to the Buckeyes dugout and as he pulled the ball out of his back pocket he said, “boys, I got that ball today.” Being the confident ballplayer that Hank was, Presswood shot back saying, “oh yea?” Satch then looked over at him and said, “Hank, I remember you. Don’t you think about hitting one of those low line drives and runnin’ like a deer. Not today!” At this point, Presswood then stood up, walked towards Paige and said, “you know what Satch? When it is my turn to hit, I am going to go up to that bat rack ...” (as he turned and pointed to the old wooden rack which was about to fall apart), and I am going to get me a 34-inch bat, and I’m going to give you a whooping you never had before!” As years have passed, even today, Hank believed he was - for that first time - going to get a hit off of the All-Star Pitcher. So when Presswood’s turn came up in the second inning of that game - after both teams had been set down in order in the first inning, Presswood did exactly what he told Satchel he was going to do. He went and grabbed a 34-inch bat, walked up to the plate and dug in. But before he could say anything, Paige shouted out to Presswood, “not today!” Glowing in confidence, Hank shouted back, “the only way I don’t whoop you today is if you keep that ball in your back pocket!” Digging in (something no one did against ol’Satch) Presswood saw his first pitch sail towards his head. “You ain’t gonna scare me,” Presswood said. “I’m not afraid.” Next pitch, fast ball right down the middle. “Good God almighty,” Presswood muttered to himself. While laughing, Satchel shot back, “not today, Hank.” On the next pitch, Presswood hit Paige’s curve ball far down the line. “I swung so hard I had to tug on my pants again just to make sure they were still up!” Hank recalled. But - after touching one of Paige’s pitches - Presswood with even more confidence dug in once more, grabbed some dirt, and rubbed it into his hands. Satchel reared up and threw another one, this time Presswood shrunk his shoulders and it again hummed past his head. But with just two strikes, Presswood was ready. “I knew he had two strikes on me and was just setting me up.” Presswood later said. With the count at 2-2 Paige reared up again, rocked back and just stared at Hank. ”He had this hesitation pitch, and after he let it go, I swear that thing floated all over the place. I didn’t come anywhere near that ball.” Presswood recalled. “I swung so hard that I turned myself into a pretzel, pulling a muscle in the process, which then sidelined me for three days! Meanwhile, Satchel was out on the mound just laughing. We used to say that he was the only guy who could turn a baseball into an aspirin tablet. Without a doubt, he was the greatest (pitcher) I have ever seen. Even when he went into the Majors, and with all of those .300 hitters up there, he wasn’t afraid. The Majors even outlawed his hesitation pitch because he used to made all those stars just look like fools. Nobody could mess with old Satchel!” Hank said. When it was Hank’s time to retire from the game, he went on to work at Inland Steel, where he still was able to dabble in the game he loved, except this time it was fast-pitch softball. There he won several trophies and also received the Good Sportsmanship Award. Eventually he retired but not before putting in more than thirty years of employment with that firm which was located in Indiana. Today, he and his wife live on Chicago’s South Side.
** excerpts written by permission from the newly released book by Steve Sullivan titled, “Talking Baseball Amongst Friends” www.talkingbaseballaf.com
During his four consecutive year reign in the Baseball’s Negro Leagues, Mr. Presswood consecutive seasons - a rarity during that time among those who spent time playing in the official Negro Leagues, was a quick line-drive hitter who could run the bases like a rabbit. While others were either being called up to the Major Leagues for a tryout or two, or beginning to drop out of baseball all together Presswood pursued and eventually put together an impressive, “Black Ball Career. At a time when it perhaps was not Presswood finest moment, it certainly is one of his most memorable ones. And that was when he and his Cleveland Buckeyes were on their way to Kansas City to face the legendary pitcher of the day - and future Hall of Famer - the great Satchel Paige. As Hank tells it**, he was the only one talking up a storm during the bus ride over from Cleveland to Kansas City. “Even our big boys who were hitting over .300 were quiet during that trip,” Presswood said. “But not me. I was the only on the bus talking to everyone and everything. When we finally got to the Kansas City ballpark, the Monarchs were already out on the field warming up. As we started to get off the bus, I remember hearing this sound: Boom, Boom, Boom. I went up to our manager, Mr. Alonzo Boone and asked, ‘Hey, skipper it’s not July the Fourth, so why are they shooting off fireworks inside the ballpark?’” Boone chuckled and said, “They ain’t shooting off fireworks in there Hank. That’s just ol’Satch warming up!” As the team finished bringing in their equipment from the bus, they gathered in the dugout, sitting in amazement watching Satchel complete his warmups. “It was so quiet in that dugout you could hear a rat crawling on cotton,” Presswood remarked. After completing his warmups, Paige walked over to the Buckeyes dugout and as he pulled the ball out of his back pocket he said, “boys, I got that ball today.” Being the confident ballplayer that Hank was, Presswood shot back saying, “oh yea?” Satch then looked over at him and said, “Hank, I remember you. Don’t you think about hitting one of those low line drives and runnin’ like a deer. Not today!” At this point, Presswood then stood up, walked towards Paige and said, “you know what Satch? When it is my turn to hit, I am going to go up to that bat rack ...” (as he turned and pointed to the old wooden rack which was about to fall apart), and I am going to get me a 34-inch bat, and I’m going to give you a whooping you never had before!” As years have passed, even today, Hank believed he was - for that first time - going to get a hit off of the All-Star Pitcher. So when Presswood’s turn came up in the second inning of that game - after both teams had been set down in order in the first inning, Presswood did exactly what he told Satchel he was going to do. He went and grabbed a 34-inch bat, walked up to the plate and dug in. But before he could say anything, Paige shouted out to Presswood, “not today!” Glowing in confidence, Hank shouted back, “the only way I don’t whoop you today is if you keep that ball in your back pocket!” Digging in (something no one did against ol’Satch) Presswood saw his first pitch sail towards his head. “You ain’t gonna scare me,” Presswood said. “I’m not afraid.” Next pitch, fast ball right down the middle. “Good God almighty,” Presswood muttered to himself. While laughing, Satchel shot back, “not today, Hank.” On the next pitch, Presswood hit Paige’s curve ball far down the line. “I swung so hard I had to tug on my pants again just to make sure they were still up!” Hank recalled. But - after touching one of Paige’s pitches - Presswood with even more confidence dug in once more, grabbed some dirt, and rubbed it into his hands. Satchel reared up and threw another one, this time Presswood shrunk his shoulders and it again hummed past his head. But with just two strikes, Presswood was ready. “I knew he had two strikes on me and was just setting me up.” Presswood later said. With the count at 2-2 Paige reared up again, rocked back and just stared at Hank. ”He had this hesitation pitch, and after he let it go, I swear that thing floated all over the place. I didn’t come anywhere near that ball.” Presswood recalled. “I swung so hard that I turned myself into a pretzel, pulling a muscle in the process, which then sidelined me for three days! Meanwhile, Satchel was out on the mound just laughing. We used to say that he was the only guy who could turn a baseball into an aspirin tablet. Without a doubt, he was the greatest (pitcher) I have ever seen. Even when he went into the Majors, and with all of those .300 hitters up there, he wasn’t afraid. The Majors even outlawed his hesitation pitch because he used to made all those stars just look like fools. Nobody could mess with old Satchel!” Hank said. When it was Hank’s time to retire from the game, he went on to work at Inland Steel, where he still was able to dabble in the game he loved, except this time it was fast-pitch softball. There he won several trophies and also received the Good Sportsmanship Award. Eventually he retired but not before putting in more than thirty years of employment with that firm which was located in Indiana. Today, he and his wife live on Chicago’s South Side. ** excerpts written by permission from the newly released book by Steve Sullivan titled, “Talking Baseball Amongst Friends” www.talkingbaseballaf.com