Gerrit Cole

Despite being regarded as a world-renowned pitching talent for the majority of his career in the Negro Leagues, it was not until July 6, 1948, that Bill Veeck of the Cleveland Indians signed 41-year-old Satchel Paige to an MLB contract. Mobile, Alabama, native became the first African-American pitcher to crack the American League and would make his first big-league start against the Washington Senators in front of 72,434 fans at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Paige was terrific and fired seven innings of three-run ball with six strikeouts to earn the win.