John Donaldson mentioned among best pitchers.

By LEE D. JENKINS
(Daily Defender Sports Editor)
&bnsp; It may sound like sacrilege but there's at least one old time ball player from the Negro leagues who says that Satchel Paige was not the best pitcher of that golden era of black baseball. William 'Pep' Young, who played with the Atlantic City Bachrach Giants and the Little Rock Stars before managing the touring Claybrook Stars, says that the late southpaw Sam Streator of the Birmingham Black Barons was the greatest black pitcher that ever lived.
Young was elated that base ball is finally going to give some recognition to stars of the Negro leagues and thinks that Satchel and Josh Gibson, fabled catcher from the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Greys, are deserving of election to the Hall of Fame among others.
The selection of either Satchel or Gibson is in the hands of a special 10 man committee that will screen the black stars for inclusion in the Hall of Fame. The naming of the committee comes after three years of delays after the addition of black ball players was suggested at the Hall of Fame ceremonies that saw former Brooklyn Dodger catcher Roy Campanella inducted.
Campanella and Dodger teammate Jackie Robinson are the only black ball players to be named to baseball's Hall of Fame.
And he says that Satchel is his first choice for selection "because he made the big leagues."
But he picks Streator over Paige. "I don't know of anybody he (Streator) didn't get out," Young said. "He's the one who always got me out.
"Satchel came up in 1924 and Sam had been pitching for 10 or 12 years and getting everybody out," Pep recalled. "Lefty" Gomez (fabled New York Yankee lefthander) was a white Sam Streator." Streator died in 1926.
Young remembers playing with and against Josh. "He was everything a ball player could be." he said. "If he had got into the big leagues when he was playing nobody could have touched him. That includes Gabby Hartnett and all of the other great catchers."
Streator, Paige and Gibson top Young's selections as the greatest performers in the Negro leagues.
His listing of pitchers includes Streator, Paige, Mendez, and Rube Foster of the Chicago American Giants, Bullet Rogan and John Donaldson.
Outfield greats include first baseman and outfielder Oscar Charleston, Alonzo Torriento, Cool Papa Bell and Turkey Stearns.
Buck Leonard tops the first basemen. Then comes Scoop Harris from the Homestead Greys and Buford Nunnaly of the Little Rock Stars. "Nunnaly was the best first baseman I ever saw but he couldn't hit the ball that's why you hear so little about him." says Pep.
Newt Allen and Bingo DeMoss lead the second basemen in Young's opinion in leaving out his own name in a show of humility.
Willie Wells, Toby Moore and Richard Lundy, who later managed the Newark Eagles and sent Larry Doby, Don Newcombe and Monte Irvin to the majors, head the shortstops.
"I'd have Oliver Marcel of the Bachrachs, Newt Joseph of the Kansas City Monarchs, Dave Malarcher and Candy Jim Taylor, who later managed the American Giants, as the best third basemen," Young outlined.
Young recalls a meeting with Josh when the Greys included the Little Rock Stars on their barnstorming tour.
"We were playing an afternoon game in Pine Bluff in 1934. On the left field line they had a miniature bale of cotton on a pole to mark the field," Young said. "I remember Josh hitting a line drive that hit that bale of cotton and spun it around. he was some hitter."
Young never batted against Satchel. "When he came up in 1924 I got a $25 fine because I wanted to see Satchel Paige pitch against the Detroit Stars," Pep reminisced. "I missed our bus for Chicago to see the boy wonder. That's what they called Satchel then.
"Satchel was with Birmingham making his first trip North. He lost the game 3-2 because he was wild. It wasn't because he wasn't pitching, he just couldn't get the ball over, but he made everybody stay away from the plate, but he couldn't get it over."
Young remembers playing against Satchel in the National Amateur tournaments in 1935 when Paige pitched Bismarck, N.D. to the title.
It marked a special year for Young because he was responsible for Bob Feller's ascension to the major leagues. "We had met Feller during our tour," Pep said.
"We beat him even though he struck out 16 because he didn't know how to pitch. We won 2-1 when I asked Feller to throw me the ball in the third base coaching box and he did and I let it go right on by with our man scoring from third base.
"I told Cy Slapnicka of the Cleveland Indians about Feller and they signed him," Pep said.
Paige and Gibson are top heavy choices but maybe Young's list will help the selection committee in future years.