Book Description
for Something to Prove by Robert Skead and Floyd Cooper
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
On February 7, 1936, two of the greatest players in baseball history met at a game in Oakland, California. Satchel Paige was a veteran of the Negro Leagues, but everyone knew he was the most talented player in any league. In fact, the game had been arranged to test out a potential new player for the Yankees: a kid named Joe DiMaggio. Could Joe get a hit off one of Satchel's pitches? As the all-Black Satchel Paige All-Stars played the all-white Dick Bartell All-Stars, Joe and Satchel faced off four times, with Satch on the mound and Joe at bat. A lively and dramatic account of the game and those encounters is the focus of a picture book that also underscores the respect that major league players and scouts had for Paige's talent, and the racism that kept him from the major leagues for another twelve years. (Ages 6-9)
CCBC Choices 2014. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2014. Used with permission.