Bill Perkins (baseball)


William Gamiel Perkins was an American baseball catcher from Albany, Georgia who played in the Negro Leagues from 1928 to 1948 with several teams. He is best known for being "Satchel Paige's personal catcher throughout his career" and wearing a chest protector that read "Thou shalt not steal!" While playing for the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Perkins served as Josh Gibson's backup catcher; but, even as backup catcher, he was the one to whom Paige most often threw his fastballs. He played in two East-West All-Star Games, in 1934 and 1940.
His baseball card read:
Bill was the catcher who was the battery mate of a young rookie named Satchel Paige when Paige joined the Black Barons.
The two went to the Pittsburgh Crawfords together, and Perkins was a constant.300 threat with the bat.
Perkins was one of the "jumpers" who jumped to Santo Domingo when tropical countries started summer seasons in competition with American leagues. He was temporarily suspended from playing in the United States in 1938, but the suspension was short and he then signed with the Philadelphia Stars. He was shot in a restaurant in 1948 with very limited details about the event.