Apple teams up with ‘Magic’ Johnson on Negro League baseball drama

Legendary pitcher Leroy “Satchel” Paige warms up in 1942.
Photo: AP

Apple has teamed up with Earvin “Magic” Johnson and other producers to develop a new drama series, according to a new report. The show will tell the stories of baseball legend Leroy “Satchel” Paige and the Negro Baseball League.

The tech giant acquired the rights to adapt the book If You Were Only White: The Life of Leroy “Satchel” Paige, by Donald Spivey, Variety reported on Tuesday. The series will depict the history of Negro League Baseball through the life of the iconic athlete Paige.

The legendary Satchel Paige

One of the biggest legends in baseball history, Paige entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. A pitcher, he played on a number of teams in both the Negro Leagues and for Major League Baseball (MLB), which supports the project.

Apple will produce the series in partnership with Kapital Entertainment and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Johnson headlines an all-star team

A legendary basketball star in his own right, Johnson will produce with longtime business partner Peter Guber, of Madelay Sports Media. Johnson and Guber co-own the Los Angeles Dodgers MLB team. Oscar nominee Ron Shelton, a major player in sports film classics Bull Durham and White Men Can’t Jump, joins them in the lineup.

Additional executive producers on the Apple-Kapital roster are John Mass, Jason Smith, Aaron Kaplan and Dana Honor.

If the project develops successfully and airs, it will be in good company on Apple TV+. It will join the streaming service’s existing sports show, the popular comedy Ted Lasso, which recently won a Peabody Award.