In 1965, at the age of 22, Gordon Loveless — now of Layton — stood at the plate at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage, Alaska, looking the 60½ feet to the pitcher’s mound, waiting for the great Satchel Paige to throw a pitch his way.

As a baseball fan, Loveless was well aware of Paige. He loved baseball and its players — both major leagues and players in what were then called the Negro leagues — and he had heard the stories of Paige’s prominence over anyone who stepped up to the plate, regardless of skin color.

In those days, baseball players went wherever they had to or wanted to just to play the game. But the presence of a legend like Paige was quite a surprise.

At the time, Paige was 59 years old, well past the ability to throw the rumored 100 mph fastballs that passed a 17-year-old rookie

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