I asked the question about the feasibility of Williams adapting to the shift in this 2009 thread.
In “Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend”, author Larry Tye claimed that Paige’s ‘Hesitation Pitch’ was so effective that a rule was passed banning it when Paige got to the majors. He had developed it as a young boy, when he would throw rocks at racist bullies. An ever-so-slight pause–too little to be ruled a balk–foiled the bullies’ attempts to curl up to dodge and protect against the thrown rock. And made it exceedingly difficult for batters to hit the ball.
Unlike with most baseball innovations (bunt, spitter, curveball) which are quickly copied by other players, Paige seemed to have an almost savant-like ability with the pitch.