Who is a player you wished you could see play in his prime?

Satchel Paige, pitcher for the Negro League's Kansas City Monarchs, stands at the top of the dugout with baseball in hand. 1942. Professional baseball has been around for a century and a half, with a rich tradition of players.

One of the things I love about the game is that although there are different eras – some with more offense, some with less, some with more home runs, some with more steals – the game is essentially the same. But the different eras provide an opportunity for different skillsets to excel. You have precise hitters like Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams in the “golden era”.

You have dominant, intimidating pitchers in the 60s like Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. You have blinding speedsters in the 70s and 80s like Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson. You have big boppers in the home run era like Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr.

But some of these players came before our time, before YouTube, when we can only listen to or read the stories of those that saw them in their prime. An off day seems like the perfect time to ask a simple baseball fan question: if you could travel back in time and watch one player at the absolute peak of his powers, who would it be? By many accounts, Leroy “Satchel” Paige was among the greatest to ever pitch.