Ada's Gail Altstaetter witnesses 1961 and 2023 events
By Cort Reynolds
CAIRO – In a historic local baseball game 62 summers ago, Cairo’s Memorial Park hosted the former Negro League Kansas City Monarchs, a legendary team featuring Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige.
Over six decades later the town memorialized the special event with a historical marker at the same park this past Saturday under the auspices of the Ohio Historical Connection. Ada’s Gail Altstaetter was at both events.
The barnstorming Monarchs, sort of an aging baseball version of the Globetrotters by then, played the local Cairo Merchants team of the Lima Metro League on August 4, 1961 in Cairo.
The diamond had lights installed for night games and the contest was held on a Friday night in late summer before school started back, making it a memorable vacation event for the local kids.
The plaque (entitled “More Than a Game”) was erected Tuesday, June 6 commemorating the game. The marker incisively notes that “during an era of racial tension and national change, a baseball game between an all-black team and an all-white team taught many in attendance that they had much in common, including a love of the game.”
For many at the time, especially young Cairo resident Altstaetter, the game has had a lasting impact. It was the first interaction he ever had with a black person, and the experience provided several thrills and memories that have lasted a lifetime.
The outcome of the game is not known, but the unique contest positively affected the small-town residents and helped ease race relations.
“The game was significant,” Altstaetter offered. “At that time there were a lot of racial undertones. There were still places in Ohio where blacks couldn’t eat or stay in a hotel. Some things still weren’t integrated.
“Teams like the Monarchs helped change perceptions,” he continued. “They put on great entertainment and were well-received. The field was surrounded with a big crowd, and there were fans everywhere at the game.”
Anticipation was high for the unique game and visit. Gail and 10-11 other boys crowded around Paige and asked the star pitcher for his autograph. Once Satchel exhausted his notebook with three autographs, he got a popcorn bag and signed his name several more times.
He then thoughtfully tore each autograph off in strips and gave them to the remaining signature-seekers. Altstaetter still has his treasured popcorn-bag autograph of the Hall of Fame hurler.
After pitching in the Negro Leagues for 21 years, Paige made his debut in the white major leagues in 1948 at the age of 42 with the Cleveland Indians.
That season, Paige posted a 6-1 record over 72 2/3 innings, recording a stellar 2.48 earned run average with the pennant-winning Tribe.
He helped Cleveland beat the Boston (now Atlanta) Braves 4-2, the last time the Cleveland franchise has won the World Series.
Paige then went 18-23 with the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles) over three seasons from 1951-53. He made a brief comeback in 1965 with the Kansas City Athletics in 1965, pitching three scoreless innings at age 59 before finally retiring from the majors.
Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog called Paige the greatest pitcher the game has ever seen. Legend has it that in his late 40s he taught a young, cocky and much-hyped Willie Mays a lesson by striking him out swinging on three pitches in their first Negro League encounter – after telling him what pitches were coming, and where.
The seemingly ageless Satchel still continued to pitch for the barnstorming Monarchs into his 60s. His age was long a subject of conjecture and controversy, fueled in part by Paige himself.
Records now indicate he was born in 1906 in Mobile, Alabama and died in 1982 in Kansas City, where the Negro League Museum is located.
His legendary longevity became a point of pride as fans marveled at how the rubber-armed Paige pitched so well for so long.
After Jackie Robinson broke the major league color barrier in 1947 the Negro Leagues started to wane and die out by 1954 as more top black players were absorbed into the white major leagues.
Paige’s 1948 Indians championship teammate Larry Doby was the first black player in the American league.
Yet teams like the old Monarchs continued to barnstorm, and played all over the country, including the historic game in Cairo 62 years ago.
The Monarchs won a record 13 Negro League pennants, making them arguably the most successful franchise in league history. Paige was a member of the 1942 Monarchs Negro League World Series champions, their second such title.
Altstaetter had a few vivid memories of the game. After starting the project he talked to Cairo native Dick Dackin, who competed in the game. Unfortunately Dackin passed away in 2022 before the marker was erected at the ballpark
He reported that Dackin was frustrated when batting against the legendary Paige, who was known for throwing very hard in his younger days. “All he threw was junk (slow) pitches,” Dackin lamented to Altstaetter.
Gail recalled that of the Monarch players hit a long homer over the center field wall and the adjacent railroad tracks, a shot he estimated at 400 feet. “It was the longest home run I had ever seen,” he said.
Altstaetter said the Monarchs also put on a show between innings. “Once time between innings they had a limbo contest for the kids between third base and home plate,” he remembered.
Rigorous application process
Dr. Betsy Hedler of the OHC spoke at the marker unveiling in Cairo Saturday, explaining how the historical society works and the marker program process. She also read a proclamation from Governor Mike DeWine given to town mayor John Vandemark.
Recognition for the historic game and marker was also relayed from the Ohio House of Representatives and state Senate.
A detailed application had to be filled out with much documentation to meet the stringent requirements of the OHC. Writer Don Hensley of Bellefontaine completed the message on the marker after a few revisions.
“We had to be very careful about what goes on the marker,” said Altstaetter.
He started the project in November of 2020 by going to the Cairo town council meeting and making a request for the marker, armed with his Paige autograph and his story.
“Once the town decided we wanted to pursue the marker, we got started on all the steps required to get a marker,” he said.
Altstaetter noted that back in 1961, baseball was still THE sport in America. “All of us kids wanted to be baseball players back then, football wasn’t as popular yet,” he noted.
The upstart American Football League had just started play a year before, and the TV-fueled merger with the established NFL was still almost a decade away.
The 1969 Ohio State graduate recounted that a six-game home season packet to football for OSU students back then cost a mere $16 – and that the stadium still didn’t always sell out, unlike recent years.
Nowadays, 16 bucks barely covers a hot dog and a beverage at OSU games.
“Back then almost every town had a local adult baseball team or league made up of men in their 20s and 30s,” recalled Altstaetter.
Times have changed a lot in many ways since 1961, but baseball’s key place in American culture and history on and off the diamond remains strong, as evidenced in Cairo.
