Jump to content

Ted Radcliffe: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Fixed typo
Centenarian category simplification
 
(243 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Infobox baseball biography
'''Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe'''
|name=Ted Radcliffe
Ted Radcliffe ([[7 July]] [[1902]]) is the oldest living professional [[baseball]] player.
| image = Ted Radcliffe.JPG
| caption = Ted Radcliffe c. 1935<!--The inclusion of this image is believed to be fair use in this biography because it is a historically significant photo of a famous individual that is only being used for informational purposes and is reproduced at a much lower resolution than the original. Its inclusion in the article adds significantly to the article because it shows the subject of this article in a manner that is historically significant to the general public.-->
|birth_date={{Birth date|1902|7|7}}
|birth_place=[[Mobile, Alabama]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|2005|8|11|1902|7|7}}
|death_place=[[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
|position=[[Pitcher]], [[Catcher]]
|team =
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|debutleague = [[Negro league baseball]]
|debutdate=
|debutyear= 1929
|debutteam= [[Chicago American Giants]]
|finalleague = [[Negro league baseball]]
|finaldate=
|finalyear= 1946
|finalteam= [[Homestead Grays]]
|stat1label=Win–loss record
|stat1value=32–24
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value= 3.68
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=216
|stat4label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat4value=.271
|stat5label=[[Home run]]s
|stat5value=17
|stat6label=[[Run batted in]]
|stat6value=183
|stat7label=Managerial record
|stat7value=165–148–5
|teams=
'''As player'''
{{bulleted list | [[Detroit Stars]] (1928) | [[Chicago American Giants]] (1929, 1934, 1942–1943) | [[St. Louis Stars (baseball)|St. Louis Stars]] (1930) | [[Homestead Grays]] (1931) | [[Pittsburgh Crawfords]] (1932) | [[Columbus Blue Birds]] (1933) | [[New York Black Yankees]] (1933) | [[Bismarck Churchills]] (1935) | [[Brooklyn Eagles]] (1935) | [[Cincinnati Tigers]] (1937) | [[Memphis Red Sox]] (1939, 1941) | [[Birmingham Black Barons]] (1943–1944) | [[Louisville Buckeyes]] | [[Kansas City Monarchs]] (1945) | [[Homestead Grays]] (1946)}}
'''As manager'''
* [[Cincinnati Tigers]] (1937)
* [[Memphis Red Sox]] (1938–1939, 1941)
* [[Chicago American Giants]] (1943)
|highlights=
*6× [[East-West All Star Game]] (1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1944)
*[[Negro American League]] pennant (1938)
}}
'''Theodore Roosevelt "Double Duty" Radcliffe''' (July 7, 1902&nbsp;– August 11, 2005) was a professional baseball player in the [[Negro leagues]]. An accomplished [[two-way player]], he played as a [[pitcher]] and a [[catcher]], became a manager, and in his old age became a popular ambassador for the game. He is one of only a handful of professional baseball players who lived past their 100th birthdays, next to [[Red Hoff]] (who lived to 107) and fellow Negro leaguer [[Silas Simmons]] (who lived to age 111).


Newspaperman [[Damon Runyon]] coined the nickname "Double Duty" because Radcliffe played as a catcher and as a pitcher in the successive games of a 1932 [[Doubleheader (baseball)|doubleheader]] between the [[Pittsburgh Crawfords]] and the [[New York Black Yankees]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Ted Radcliffe |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ted-Radcliffe |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=18 January 2021}}</ref> In the first of the two games at [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]], Radcliffe caught the pitcher [[Satchel Paige]] for a [[shutout]] and then pitched a shutout in the second game. Runyon wrote that Radcliffe "was worth the price of two admissions." Radcliffe considered his year with the 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords to be one of the highlights of his career.<ref name=autogenerated2>McNary 1994</ref>
Born Theodore Roosevelt Radcliffe in [[Mobile, Alabama]], he became a star in the [[Negro League Baseball| Negro Leagues]]. Playing for more than 30 teams, Radcliffe had more than 4,000 hits and 400 home runs, won about 500 games and had 4,000 strike-outs. He played as a [[pitcher]] and a [[catcher]], became a manager and in his old age has become a popular ambassador for the game. He now lives in [[Chicago]].


Of the six [[East–West All-Star Game]]s in which he played, Radcliffe pitched in three and was a catcher in three. He also pitched in two and caught in six other All-Star games. He hit .376 (11-for-29) in nine exhibition games against [[Major League Baseball|major leaguers]].<ref name=autogenerated2 />
[[Damon Runyon]] coined the nickname “Double Duty” because Radcliffe played as a [[catcher]] and as a [[pitcher]] in the successive games of a [[1932]] [[Negro World Series]] doubleheader between the [[Pittsburgh Crawfords]] and the [[Kansas City Monarchs]]. In the first of the two games at [[Yankee Stadium]] Radcliffe caught the [[pitcher]] [[Satchel Paige]] for a shut out and then pitched a shut out in the second game. Radcliffe considered his year with the [[1932]] [[Pittsburg Crawfords]] to be one of the highlights of his career. The [[Pittsburg Crawfords|Crawfords]] beat the [[Kansas City Monarchs|Monarchs]] 5-1 in the nine-game series.


==Career==
Double Duty pitched three and caught three of the six East-West [[Negro League All-Star| All-Star]] games in which he played. He also pitched in two and caught in six other [[Negro League All-Star]] games. He hit .376 (11-for-29) in nine exhibition games against major leaguers, which gives some support to his grandiose claim to have been the greatest player of all time. A less partial assessment places him in the top twenty players.


===Early life===
Starting with the [[Detroit Stars]] in [1928] he went on to play for the [[St.Louis Stars]] ([[1930]]), [[Homestead Grays]] ([[1931]]), [[Pittsburgh Crawfords]] ([[1932]]), [[Columbus Blue Birds]], [[New York Black Yankees]], [[Brooklyn Eagles]], [[Cincinnati Tigers]], [[Memphis Red Sox]], [[Birmingham Black Barons]], [[Chicago American Giants]], [[Louisville Buckeyes]] and [[Kansas City Monarchs]]. Ted Radcliffe managed the [[Cleveland Tigers]] in [[1937]], [[Memphis Red Sox]] in [[1938]] and the [[Chicago American Giants]] in [[1943]].
Ted Radcliffe grew up in [[Mobile, Alabama]] as one of ten children. His brother [[Alex Radcliffe]] also achieved renown as a ballplayer playing third base. The boys played baseball using a taped ball of rags with their friends including future Negro league All-Star ballplayers [[Satchel Paige|Leroy "Satchel" Paige]] and [[Bobby Robinson (baseball)|Bobby Robinson]].


In 1919, teenagers Ted and Alex hitchhiked north to [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] to join an older brother. The rest of the family soon followed to live on the [[South Side (Chicago)|South Side]] of Chicago. A year later Ted Radcliffe signed on with the semi-pro [[Illinois Giants]] at $50 for every 15 games and 50¢ a day for meal money. This worked out at about $100 a month. He travelled with the Giants for a few seasons before joining [[Gilkerson's Union Giants]], another semi-pro team with whom he played until he entered the [[Negro National League (1920-1931)|Negro National League]] with the Detroit Stars in 1928.
Standing 5'9" and weighing 210 pounds (95kg) Radcliffe had a strong throwing arm, good catching reflexes and great cunning. Even with these strengths, he also mastered many illegal [[pitching| pitches]] including the [[list of baseball pitches|emery ball]], the [[list of baseball pitches|cut ball]] and the [[list of baseball pitches|spitter]]. Statistics for the [[Negro League baseball]] are incomplete but those available for 8 of his 23 seasons show him hitting .273.


===Pro ball===
Ted Radcliffe grew up in Mobile, Alabama as one of ten children. His brother [[Alex Radcliffe]] also achieved renown as a ballplayer playing third base. The boys played baseball using a taped ball of rags with their friends including future [[Negro League All-Star]] ballplayers [[Satchel Paige| Leroy "Satchel" Paige]] and [[Bobby Robinson]].
After a brief tenure with the [[Detroit Stars]], Radcliffe played for the [[St. Louis Stars (baseball)|St. Louis Stars]] (1930), [[Homestead Grays]] (1931), Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932), [[Columbus Blue Birds]] (1933), [[New York Black Yankees]], [[Brooklyn Eagles]], [[Cincinnati Tigers]], [[Memphis Red Sox]], [[Birmingham Black Barons]], [[Chicago American Giants]], [[Louisville Buckeyes]] and [[Kansas City Monarchs]].<ref name=autogenerated2 /> Ted Radcliffe managed the Cincinnati Tigers in 1937, Memphis Red Sox in 1938 and Chicago American Giants in 1943.<ref name=autogenerated2 />


Radcliffe was known as a glib, fast-talking player. [[Ty Cobb]] reported that Radcliffe wore a chest protector that said "thou shalt not steal" during one exhibition game. He could call a clever game as a catcher and his banter from the pitching mound distracted some hitters. Biographer Kyle P. McNary estimates that Radcliffe had a .303 batting average, 4,000 hits and 400 homers in 36 years in the game (see [[Baseball statistics]]).<ref name=autogenerated2 />
In [[1919]] as teenagers Ted and [[Alex Radcliffe| Alex]] hitchhiked north to [[Chicago]] to join an older brother and the rest of the family soon followed to live on the [[Chicago South Side| South Side]] of [[Chicago]]. In [[1920]] Ted Radcliffe signed on with the semi-pro [[Illinois Giants]] at $50 for every 15 games and 50¢ a day meal money. This worked out at about $100 a month.
He travelled with the [[Illinois Giants| Giants]] for a few seasons before joining [[Gilkerson's Union Giants]], another semi-pro team with whom he played until he joined the [[Detroit Stars]] in [[1928]] and entered the [[Negro National League]].


Standing 5&nbsp;ft 9 in and weighing 210 pounds (95&nbsp;kg) Radcliffe had a strong throwing arm, good catching reflexes and great cunning. Even with these strengths, he also mastered many illegal [[Pitch (baseball)|pitches]] including the [[emery ball]], the [[Spitball|cut ball]] and the [[Spitball|spitter]]. Statistics for the [[Negro league baseball]] are incomplete, but available records show him hitting .273 over eight of his 23 seasons.<ref name=autogenerated2 />
With the [[Detroit Stars]] he was the regular catcher for the first half of the season, but when the pitching staff grew tired he began pitching and led the team to championship. His career best hitting average was .316 for the 1929 [[Detroit Stars]].


With the Detroit Stars, he was the regular catcher for the first half of the season. When the pitching staff grew tired, he began pitching and led the team to championship. His career high for batting average was .316 for the 1929 Detroit Stars.<ref name=autogenerated2 />
Radcliffe believes the [[Homestead Grays]] [[1931]] team to be the greatest team of all time. The side included [[Josh Gibson]], [[Oscar Charleston]], [[Jud Wilson]], and [[Smokey Joe Williams]]. [[John Gibson| Gibson]] and [[Oscar Charleston| Charleston]] joined him in the [[1932]] [[Pittsburg Crawfords]]. Radcliffe and his close friend [[Satchel Paige]] were easily persuaded to change sides by offers of higher earnings and both moved frequently. They also formed several [[Negro League all-star]] teams to play exhibition games against white [[Major League Baseball| major league]] stars. By the end of his career Double Duty had played for 30 different teams and in one season alone he played in 5 teams.


[[File:1930-31 Homstead Grays.jpg|thumb|left|Radcliffe (kneeling, 3rd from right) with 1931 Grays]]
In [[1934]] Duty was player-manager of the integrated [[Jamestown Red Sox]] of [[North Dakota]]. He also played for the [[Chicago American Giants]]. After the season he managed a white semi-pro [[North Dakota]] team that toured [[Canada]] playing a major league all-star team gathered by [[Jimmie Foxx]]. Radcliffe's team was 2-1 when [[Jimmie Foxx| Foxx]] was hit on the head by a [[Chet Brewer]] pitch, and the tour cancelled.
Radcliffe believed the Homestead Grays 1931 team to be the greatest team of all time. The side included [[Josh Gibson]], [[Oscar Charleston]], [[Jud Wilson]], and [[Smokey Joe Williams]]. Gibson and Charleston joined him in the 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords. Radcliffe and his close friend Satchel Paige were easily persuaded to change sides by offers of higher earnings and both moved frequently. They also formed several Negro league all-star teams to play exhibition games against white [[Major League Baseball|major league]] stars. By the end of his career Radcliffe had played for 30 different teams; in one season alone, he played on five different teams.<ref name=autogenerated2 />


Radcliffe was player-manager of the integrated [[Jamestown Red Sox]] of [[North Dakota]] from May to October 1934.<ref>Gadfly</ref> This made him the first black man to manage white professional players. He also played for the [[Chicago American Giants]] in that season. During that postseason, he managed a white semi-pro [[North Dakota]] team that toured Canada playing a major league all-star team gathered by [[Jimmie Foxx]]. Radcliffe's team won two games out of three before Foxx was hit on the head by a [[Chet Brewer]] pitch and the tour cancelled.<ref name=autogenerated2 />
In [[1935]] Duty and [[Satchel Paige]] led the [[Bismarck Churchills]] to the first [[National Semipro Championship]]. This [[North Dakota]] team was owned by [[Neil Churchill]], a car dealer who funded an integrated team more than a decade before [[Jackie Robinson]] broke the colour barrier in the [[Major League Baseball| Major League]]. Other Negro Leaguers on the team included [[Chet Brewer]], [[Hilton Smith]], [[Barney Morris]] and [[Quincy Trouppe]].


In the next season, Radcliffe had trouble securing his release from the Brooklyn Eagles of the Negro leagues, but on June 21 he joined the integrated [[Bismarck Churchills]]. Along with [[Satchel Paige]], Moose Johnson, and others, Radcliffe helped to lead the club to the first [[National Semipro Championship]]. This [[North Dakota]] team was owned by [[Neil Churchill]], a car dealer. Other Negro leaguers on the team included Chet Brewer, [[Hilton Smith]], [[Barney Morris]] and [[Quincy Trouppe]].<ref name=autogenerated2 />
In [[1937]] Radcliffe managed the [[Memphis Red Sox]] as well as catching and pitching for them. He stayed there for [[1938]] and in [[1943]] he became manager of the [[Chicago American Giants]].


In [[1943]] aged 41 Duty won the [[Negro American League]] [[MVP]] award and two years later he struck a home run into the upper deck of [[Comiskey Park]] for the highlight of that season’s [[East-West All-Star]] game.
Radcliffe managed the Memphis Red Sox in 1937 as well as catching and pitching for them. He stayed there for 1938 and in 1943, aged 41, he rejoined the Chicago American Giants. Despite his age, Radcliffe won the [[Negro American League]] [[Most Valuable Player|MVP]] award that season and a year later he struck a home run into the upper deck of [[Comiskey Park]] for the highlight of that season's East-West All-Star game.<ref name=autogenerated2 />


In 1945 Radcliffe played for the Kansas City Monarchs and roomed with [[Jackie Robinson]]. He integrated two semipro leagues, the [[Southern Minnesota League|Southern Minny]] ([[Minnesota]]) and the [[Michigan-Indiana League]] in 1948, by signing black and white players. In 1950 Radcliffe managed the Chicago American Giants of the Negro American League. The team's owner, [[J. B. Martin|Dr. J. B. Martin]], was concerned about black players joining [[Major league baseball|Major League]] teams; he instructed Radcliffe to sign white players. Radcliffe recruited at least five young white players, including [[Lou Chirban]] and [[Lou Clarizio]].<ref name=autogenerated2 />
In [[1945]] Duty played for the [[Kansas City Monarchs]] and roomed with [[Jackie Robinson]].


As player-manager with the [[Elmwood Giants]] in the [[Manitoba-Dakota League]] in 1951, Radcliffe batted .459 with a 3–0 pitching record; in 1952, at the age of 50, he batted .364 with a 1–0 pitching mark. A 1952 ''[[Pittsburgh Courier]]'' poll of [[Negro league baseball|Negro league]] experts named Double Duty the fifth greatest catcher in Negro league history and the 17th greatest pitcher. He retired two years later as a player-manager in [[Winnipeg]], Manitoba, Canada. His peak earnings had been $850 a month; the top rate for a major league player of the time was $10,000, paid monthly to [[Hank Greenberg]] in 1947.<ref name=autogenerated2 />
He integrated two semipro leagues, the [[Southern Minnesota League| Southern Minny]] ([[Minnesota]]) and the [[Michigan-Indiana League]] in [[1948]], by signing black and white players. Two years later in [[1950]] Radcliffe managed the [[Chicago Giants]] of the [[Negro American League]]. The team’s president, [[Dr. J.B. Martin]], was concerned about black players being joining [[major league baseball| Major League]] teams so he instructed Radcliffe to sign white players. Radcliffe recruited at least five young white players ([[Lou Chirban]], [[Lou Clarizio]], [[Al Dubetts]], [[Frank Dyall]] and [[Stanley Miarka]]).


In the 1960s, Radcliffe was employed as a baseball scout including for a time with the [[Cleveland Indians]].<ref name=autogenerated1>Goldstein</ref>
In [[1951]] Duty became player-manager of the [[Elmwood Giants]] in the [[Manitoba-Dakota League]] where he batted .459 with a 3-0 pitching record and in [[1952]] at the age of 50 he batted .364 with a 1-0 pitching mark. A [[1952]] [[Pittsburgh Courier]] poll of [[Negro League baseball| Negro League]] experts named Double Duty the 5th greatest [[catcher]] in [[Negro League baseball| Negro League]] history and the 17th greatest [[pitcher]]. He retired two years later as a player-manager in [[Winnipeg, Canada]]. His peak earnings had been $850 a month.


==Segregation==
In [[1997]] Radcliffe was inducted into the ‘Yesterday’s Negro League Baseball Players Wall of Fame’ at [[County Stadium]] in [[Milwaukee]]. And in [[1999]], aged 96, he became the oldest player to appear in a professional game when he threw a single pitch for the [[Schaumburg Flyers]] of the [[Northern League]]. Since his 100th birthday Double Duty has celebrated each year by throwing a ceremonial first pitch for the [[Chicago White Sox]] at [[Wrigley Field]].
Throughout his career, Double Duty had to endure [[racial segregation]]. In every city except [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], he and his colleagues had to stay in segregated hotels and eat in segregated restaurants. It was difficult to get cabs at night. He also faced racist hostility from players and has said that, among others, "Ty Cobb didn't like colored people". Radcliffe also recalled stopping the team car to buy gas in [[Waycross, Georgia]]. When the players tried to drink water from the car wash hose, the owner of the gas station told them, "Put that hose down—that's for white folks to drink." Radcliffe told a Boston Globe interviewer: "After that, I refused to buy gas from him. About four miles down the road, the gas ran out and we had to push the car five miles."<ref name=autogenerated2 />


==Retirement==
Radcliffe was known as a funny fast-talking player. [[Ty Cobb]] reported that as a [[catcher]] in an exhibition game he wore a chest protector that said "thou shalt not steal." He could call a clever game as a catcher and his banter from the pitching mound distracted some hitters. His biographer, [[Kyle P. McNary]], estimates that Radcliffe had a .303 batting average, 4,000 hits and 400 homers in 36 years in the game.
After leaving baseball, Radcliffe and his wife returned to a life of poverty until 1990, when they were robbed and beaten in their housing project on Chicago's South Side. A news report of this came to the attention of the [[Baseball Assistance Team]], a charity that helps needy ex-players. With the help of the mayor's office, the team helped the couple move into a church-run residence for the elderly.<ref name=autogenerated1 />


[[Kyle P. McNary| McNary]] met Radcliffe in [[1992]] when he was trying to learn more about black baseball in his home town of [[Bismarck, North Dakota]]. Radcliffe subsequently suggested that McNary should write his biography and the result was self-published by McNary in 1994. Radcliffe would travel widely to ballgames and has become known for his lively good humour and gentle clowning.
[[Image:Double Duty autograph.JPG|thumb|left|Frontispiece of McNary's biography of Radcliffe autographed by its subject]]Writer Kyle McNary met Radcliffe in 1992 when he was trying to learn more about black baseball in his home town of [[Bismarck, North Dakota]]. Radcliffe subsequently suggested that McNary should write his biography and the result was self-published by McNary in 1994. Radcliffe would travel widely to ballgames and became known for his lively good humor and gentle clowning.<ref name=autogenerated2 />


Despite two strokes and other age-related health problems, Radcliffe continued to be active in his community. He received the state of Illinois Historical Committee's Lifetime Achievement Award and was honored by Mayor Richard Daley as an outstanding citizen of Chicago. He has been the guest of three U.S. Presidents at the White House. A WGN documentary about Radcliffe's life, narrated by Morgan Freeman, won an Emmy Award. The Illinois Department of Aging inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2002.<ref>[https://www2.illinois.gov/aging/HallofFame/Pages/2002.aspx#theodore "2002 Hall of Fame: Performance and Graphic Arts - Theodore 'Double Duty' Radcliffe,"] Illinois Department of Aging website. Retrieved Aug. 22, 2020.</ref>
Throughout his career Double Duty had to endure [[segregation]. In every city except [[St Paul, Minnesota]] he and his colleagues had to stay in segregated hotels, eat in segregated restaurants and had trouble getting cabs at night. He also faced racist hostility from players and has claimed that among others "[[Ty Cobb| [Ty] Cobb]] didn't like colored people".


In 1997, Radcliffe was inducted into the "Yesterday's Negro League Baseball Players Wall of Fame" at [[County Stadium]] in [[Milwaukee]]. In 1999, aged 96, he became the oldest player to appear in a professional game just ahead of [[Buck O'Neil]] and Jim Eriotes. He threw a single pitch for the [[Schaumburg Flyers]] of the [[Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010)|Northern League]]. After his 100th birthday, Double Duty celebrated each year by throwing a ceremonial first pitch for the [[Chicago White Sox]] at [[U.S. Cellular Field]]. On July 27, 2005, he threw the first pitch at [[Rickwood Field]], [[Birmingham, Alabama]].<ref>Birmingham News, 22 July 2005</ref> Two weeks later, Radcliffe died in Chicago on August 11, 2005, due to complications from [[cancer]].
Radcliffe’s stories are entertaining but not always reliable. His claim to have seen [[Fidel Castro]] with a cigar at a winter game in [[Cuba]] and his observation that the man “couldn’t play” seems unlikely given that Castro would have been just 14 at the time.


Radcliffe's stories were entertaining but not always reliable. His claim to have seen [[Fidel Castro]] with a cigar at a winter game in [[Cuba]] and his observation that the man "couldn't play" seems unlikely given that Castro would have been just 14 at the time.
In 2003 Ted Radcliffe’s twisted broken hands were cast in bronze by [[Raelee Frazier]] as part of the [[Hitters Hands]] series of baseball sculptures that toured the [[United States]] in ‘Shades of Greatness’, an exhibition sponsored by the [[Negro League Museum]].


[[Raelee Frazier]] cast Ted Radcliffe's twisted broken hands in bronze as part of the 2003 ''Hitters Hands'' series of baseball sculptures that toured the United States in ''Shades of Greatness'', an exhibition sponsored by the [[Negro Leagues Baseball Museum]].<ref>Frazier</ref>
In 2005 an 8”x10” monochrome photograph or a baseball autographed by Ted Radcliffe can cost about $300.


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
*Anon, ‘Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe’, Jet, 22 July 1996 [ISSN: 0021-5996]
*'Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe', ''Jet'', July 22, 1996 {{ISSN|0021-5996}}
*Anon, ‘Still Loving Baseball At 100’, Jet, (9 June 2003) [ISSN: 0021-5996]
*'Still Loving Baseball At 100', ''Jet'', (June 9, 2003) {{ISSN|0021-5996}}
*Anon, ‘Honoring Legends’, Jet, 28 July 2003 [ISSN: 0021-5996]
*'Honoring Legends', ''Jet'', July 28, 2003 {{ISSN|0021-5996}}
*Anon, ‘Celebrating 102!’, Jet, 26 July 2004 [ISSN: 0021-5996]
*'Celebrating 102!', [[Jet (magazine)|Jet]], July 26, 2004 {{ISSN|0021-5996}}
*[http://www.state.il.us/aging/2awareness/awareness_hall2002.htm#theodore '2002 Hall of Fame Inductees', ''Illinois Department of Aging (2002)]. Retrieved July 24, 2005.
*Anon, ‘”Double Duty” Knows Baseball’, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2003
*'"Double Duty" Knows Baseball' ''Los Angeles Times'', June 20, 2003.
*Anon, ‘Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe’, Negro League Baseball Players Association, <http://www.nlbpa.com/radcliffe__ted_-_double_duty.html>, 2005
*[http://www.nlbpa.com/radcliffe__ted_-_double_duty.html 'Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe', ''Negro League Baseball Players Association'' (2005)]
*Anon, ‘Exciting to watch, Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe’, The African America Registry, <http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/986/Exciting_to_watch_Ted_Double_Duty_Radcliffe>, 2005
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080125150251/http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/986/Exciting_to_watch_Ted_Double_Duty_Radcliffe 'Exciting to watch, Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe', ''The African America Registry'' (2005)]
*Anon, ‘Ted Radcliffe Biography’, The History Makers, <http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=91&category=sportsMakers>, 2005
*[http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=91&category=sportsMakers 'Ted Radcliffe Biography', ''The History Makers'' (2005)]
*Mike Blake, Baseball Chronicles, (Cincinnati, Oh: Betterway Books, 1994)
*[http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/112202408233940.xml&coll=2 'Double-Duty to throw out first pitch', ''Birmingham News'', July 22, 2005]. Retrieved July 24, 2005.
*Steve Bogira, ‘Blackball: Memories of the Negro Leagues and Notes On the Integration, To Use the Term Loosely, of Major League Baseball’, City Paper (Washington (DC)) , July 24, 1987 (Vol. 7, Issue 30) pp. 12-24
*Blake, Mike. ''Baseball Chronicles'', (Cincinnati, Oh: Betterway Books, 1994)
*James Floto, ‘Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe: 36 Years of Pitching & Catching in Baseball's Negro Leagues’, The Diamond Angle, <http://www.thediamondangle.com/archive/oct01/ddbook.html>, October 2001
*Bogira, Steve. 'Blackball: Memories of the Negro Leagues and Notes On the Integration, To Use the Term Loosely, of Major League Baseball', ''City Paper'' (Washington (DC)), July 24, 1987 (Vol. 7, Issue 30) pp.&nbsp;12–24
*Raelee A Frazier, ‘Theodore Roosevelt “Double Duty” Radcliffe’, Hitters Hands, <http://www.artsales.com/ARTstudio/highland_studios/negro_league_2.htm>, 2004
*[http://www.thediamondangle.com/archive/oct01/ddbook.html Floto, James. 'Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe: 36 Years of Pitching & Catching in Baseball's Negro Leagues', ''The Diamond Angle'' (October 2001)]
*Chuck Hershberger, 'Baseball Book Review', Oldtyme Baseball News 1995 (Vol. 6, Issue 5) p. 28
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050811125214/http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/primer/hom_discussion/28163/ Gadfly. 'Hall of Merit discussion: Ted Radcliffe', ''Baseball Think Factory'' (May 2005)] Retrieved July 25, 2005
*John B Holway, Voices From The Great Black Baseball Leagues, (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1975) (Revised Edition published New York: Da Capo Press, 1992)
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/sports/baseball/12radcliffe.html Goldstein, Richard. 'Ted Radcliffe, Star of the Negro Leagues, Is Dead at 103', ''The New York Times'' (August 12, 2005)]
*Larry Lester, Sammy J. Miller and Dick Clark, Black Baseball in Chicago, (Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2000) [ISBN: 0738507040]
*Hershberger, Chuck. 'Baseball Book Review', ''Oldtyme Baseball News 1995'' (Vol. 6, Issue 5) p.&nbsp;28
*JJM, ‘Ted Radcliffe’, Baseball Library, <http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/R/Radcliffe_Ted.stm>, 2005
*Holway, John B. ''Voices From The Great Black Baseball Leagues'' (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1975) (Revised Edition published New York: Da Capo Press, 1992)
*Kyle P McNary, Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe: 36 Years Of Pitching & Catching In Baseball's Negro Leagues ,(Minneapolis: McNary Publishing, 1994)
*Larry Lester, Sammy J. Miller and Dick Clark, Black Baseball in Chicago, (Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2000) {{ISBN|0-7385-0704-0}}
*Kyle McNary, ‘Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe’, Simply Baseball Notebook: Legends, <http://z.lee28.tripod.com/sbnslegends/id7.html>, March 2002
*[https://baseballbiography.com/ted-radcliffe Ted Radcliffe] - Baseballbiography.com
*Kyle McNary, ‘Negro Leaguer of the Month, July, 2004’, Pitch Black Baseball, <http://www.pitchblackbaseball.com/nlotmdoubleduty.html>, July 2004
*McNary, Kyle P. ''Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe: 36 Years Of Pitching & Catching In Baseball's Negro Leagues'' (Minneapolis: McNary Publishing, 1994)
*Robert W Peterson, Only The Ball Was White, (New York: Prentice-Hall Englewood-Cliffs, 1970)
*[http://www.pitchblackbaseball.com/northdakotabaseball.html#northdakotawhipsbigleagues McNary, Kyle P. 'North Dakota Whips Big Leagues', '' Pitch Black Baseball'' (2001)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725100704/http://www.pitchblackbaseball.com/northdakotabaseball.html#northdakotawhipsbigleagues |date=2008-07-25 }} Retrieved July 25, 2005.
*Lefty Sepulveda, ‘Grateful Memories of Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe’, Baseball Library, <http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/submit/Sepulveda_Lefty2.stm>, 2 August 2002
*[http://z.lee28.tripod.com/sbnslegends/id7.html McNary, Kyle P. 'Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe', ''Simply Baseball Notebook: Legends'' (March 2002)]
*Shelley Smith, ‘Remembering Their Game’, Sports Illustrated, July 6, 1992 (Vol. 77, Issue 1) p. 80
*[http://www.pitchblackbaseball.com/nlotmdoubleduty.html McNary, Kyle P. 'Negro Leaguer of the Month, July, 2004', ''Pitch Black Baseball'' (July 2004)]
*Wendell Smith, ‘East-West Star Dust’, Pittsburgh Courier, August 19, 1944
*Peterson, Robert W. ''Only The Ball Was White'', (New York: Prentice-Hall Englewood-Cliffs, 1970)
*David Steele, ‘Negro Leaguers Seek Entry Into Hall’, USA Today Baseball Weekly, August 16, 1991 (Vol. 1, Issue 20) p. 17
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030912221000/http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/submit/Sepulveda_Lefty2.stm Sepulveda, Lefty. 'Grateful Memories of Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe', ''Baseball Library'' (August 2, 2002)]
*Smith, Shelley. 'Remembering Their Game', ''Sports Illustrated'', July 6, 1992 (Vol. 77, Issue 1) p.&nbsp;80
*Smith, Wendell. 'East-West Star Dust', ''Pittsburgh Courier'', August 19, 1944
*Steele, David. 'Negro Leaguers Seek Entry Into Hall', ''USA Today Baseball Weekly'', August 16, 1991 (Vol. 1, Issue 20) p.&nbsp;17

==References==
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Baseballstats|mlb=532459|br=r/radclte01}} and [https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=radcli001ted Baseball-Reference Black Baseball and stats] and [https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=radcl01ted Seamheads]
*Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe at:
*{{Find a Grave|11519154}}
**[http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/986/Exciting_to_watch_Ted_Double_Duty_Radcliffe The African America Registry]
* [https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ted-double-duty-radcliffe/ Ted Radcliffe] at [[Society for American Baseball Research|SABR]] (Baseball BioProject)
**[http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/R/Radcliffe_Ted.stm Baseball Library]
{{Authority control}}
**[http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=91&category=sportsMakers The History Makers]]
**[http://www.nlbpa.com/radcliffe__ted_-_double_duty.html Negro League Baseball Players Association]
**[http://www.pitchblackbaseball.com/nlotmdoubleduty.html Pitch Black Baseball]
**[http://z.lee28.tripod.com/sbnslegends/id7.html Simply Baseball Notebook: Legends]


[[Category:Baseball players|Radcliffe, Ted "Double Duty"]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radcliffe, Ted}}
[[Category:1902 births|Radcliffe, Ted "Double Duty"]]
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:Centenarians|Radcliffe, Ted "Double Duty"]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:African-American baseball players]]
[[Category:African-American men centenarians]]
[[Category:American men centenarians]]
[[Category:American expatriate baseball players in Mexico]]
[[Category:Azules de Veracruz players]]
[[Category:Birmingham Black Barons players]]
[[Category:Bismarck Churchills players]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Eagles players]]
[[Category:Chicago American Giants players]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Tigers (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Columbus Blue Birds players]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Illinois]]
[[Category:Detroit Stars players]]
[[Category:Elmwood Giants players]]
[[Category:Homestead Grays players]]
[[Category:Kansas City Monarchs players]]
[[Category:Louisville Buckeyes players]]
[[Category:Memphis Red Sox players]]
[[Category:Mexican League baseball players]]
[[Category:Negro league baseball managers]]
[[Category:New York Black Yankees players]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Crawfords players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Stars (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Mobile, Alabama]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]

Latest revision as of 18:51, 4 December 2024

Ted Radcliffe
Ted Radcliffe c. 1935
Pitcher, Catcher
Born: (1902-07-07)July 7, 1902
Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Died: August 11, 2005(2005-08-11) (aged 103)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Negro league baseball debut
1929, for the Chicago American Giants
Last Negro league baseball appearance
1946, for the Homestead Grays
Career statistics
Win–loss record32–24
Earned run average3.68
Strikeouts216
Batting average.271
Home runs17
Run batted in183
Managerial record165–148–5
Teams
As player

As manager

Career highlights and awards

Theodore Roosevelt "Double Duty" Radcliffe (July 7, 1902 – August 11, 2005) was a professional baseball player in the Negro leagues. An accomplished two-way player, he played as a pitcher and a catcher, became a manager, and in his old age became a popular ambassador for the game. He is one of only a handful of professional baseball players who lived past their 100th birthdays, next to Red Hoff (who lived to 107) and fellow Negro leaguer Silas Simmons (who lived to age 111).

Newspaperman Damon Runyon coined the nickname "Double Duty" because Radcliffe played as a catcher and as a pitcher in the successive games of a 1932 doubleheader between the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the New York Black Yankees.[1] In the first of the two games at Yankee Stadium, Radcliffe caught the pitcher Satchel Paige for a shutout and then pitched a shutout in the second game. Runyon wrote that Radcliffe "was worth the price of two admissions." Radcliffe considered his year with the 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords to be one of the highlights of his career.[2]

Of the six East–West All-Star Games in which he played, Radcliffe pitched in three and was a catcher in three. He also pitched in two and caught in six other All-Star games. He hit .376 (11-for-29) in nine exhibition games against major leaguers.[2]

Career

[edit]

Early life

[edit]

Ted Radcliffe grew up in Mobile, Alabama as one of ten children. His brother Alex Radcliffe also achieved renown as a ballplayer playing third base. The boys played baseball using a taped ball of rags with their friends including future Negro league All-Star ballplayers Leroy "Satchel" Paige and Bobby Robinson.

In 1919, teenagers Ted and Alex hitchhiked north to Chicago to join an older brother. The rest of the family soon followed to live on the South Side of Chicago. A year later Ted Radcliffe signed on with the semi-pro Illinois Giants at $50 for every 15 games and 50¢ a day for meal money. This worked out at about $100 a month. He travelled with the Giants for a few seasons before joining Gilkerson's Union Giants, another semi-pro team with whom he played until he entered the Negro National League with the Detroit Stars in 1928.

Pro ball

[edit]

After a brief tenure with the Detroit Stars, Radcliffe played for the St. Louis Stars (1930), Homestead Grays (1931), Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932), Columbus Blue Birds (1933), New York Black Yankees, Brooklyn Eagles, Cincinnati Tigers, Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons, Chicago American Giants, Louisville Buckeyes and Kansas City Monarchs.[2] Ted Radcliffe managed the Cincinnati Tigers in 1937, Memphis Red Sox in 1938 and Chicago American Giants in 1943.[2]

Radcliffe was known as a glib, fast-talking player. Ty Cobb reported that Radcliffe wore a chest protector that said "thou shalt not steal" during one exhibition game. He could call a clever game as a catcher and his banter from the pitching mound distracted some hitters. Biographer Kyle P. McNary estimates that Radcliffe had a .303 batting average, 4,000 hits and 400 homers in 36 years in the game (see Baseball statistics).[2]

Standing 5 ft 9 in and weighing 210 pounds (95 kg) Radcliffe had a strong throwing arm, good catching reflexes and great cunning. Even with these strengths, he also mastered many illegal pitches including the emery ball, the cut ball and the spitter. Statistics for the Negro league baseball are incomplete, but available records show him hitting .273 over eight of his 23 seasons.[2]

With the Detroit Stars, he was the regular catcher for the first half of the season. When the pitching staff grew tired, he began pitching and led the team to championship. His career high for batting average was .316 for the 1929 Detroit Stars.[2]

Radcliffe (kneeling, 3rd from right) with 1931 Grays

Radcliffe believed the Homestead Grays 1931 team to be the greatest team of all time. The side included Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Jud Wilson, and Smokey Joe Williams. Gibson and Charleston joined him in the 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords. Radcliffe and his close friend Satchel Paige were easily persuaded to change sides by offers of higher earnings and both moved frequently. They also formed several Negro league all-star teams to play exhibition games against white major league stars. By the end of his career Radcliffe had played for 30 different teams; in one season alone, he played on five different teams.[2]

Radcliffe was player-manager of the integrated Jamestown Red Sox of North Dakota from May to October 1934.[3] This made him the first black man to manage white professional players. He also played for the Chicago American Giants in that season. During that postseason, he managed a white semi-pro North Dakota team that toured Canada playing a major league all-star team gathered by Jimmie Foxx. Radcliffe's team won two games out of three before Foxx was hit on the head by a Chet Brewer pitch and the tour cancelled.[2]

In the next season, Radcliffe had trouble securing his release from the Brooklyn Eagles of the Negro leagues, but on June 21 he joined the integrated Bismarck Churchills. Along with Satchel Paige, Moose Johnson, and others, Radcliffe helped to lead the club to the first National Semipro Championship. This North Dakota team was owned by Neil Churchill, a car dealer. Other Negro leaguers on the team included Chet Brewer, Hilton Smith, Barney Morris and Quincy Trouppe.[2]

Radcliffe managed the Memphis Red Sox in 1937 as well as catching and pitching for them. He stayed there for 1938 and in 1943, aged 41, he rejoined the Chicago American Giants. Despite his age, Radcliffe won the Negro American League MVP award that season and a year later he struck a home run into the upper deck of Comiskey Park for the highlight of that season's East-West All-Star game.[2]

In 1945 Radcliffe played for the Kansas City Monarchs and roomed with Jackie Robinson. He integrated two semipro leagues, the Southern Minny (Minnesota) and the Michigan-Indiana League in 1948, by signing black and white players. In 1950 Radcliffe managed the Chicago American Giants of the Negro American League. The team's owner, Dr. J. B. Martin, was concerned about black players joining Major League teams; he instructed Radcliffe to sign white players. Radcliffe recruited at least five young white players, including Lou Chirban and Lou Clarizio.[2]

As player-manager with the Elmwood Giants in the Manitoba-Dakota League in 1951, Radcliffe batted .459 with a 3–0 pitching record; in 1952, at the age of 50, he batted .364 with a 1–0 pitching mark. A 1952 Pittsburgh Courier poll of Negro league experts named Double Duty the fifth greatest catcher in Negro league history and the 17th greatest pitcher. He retired two years later as a player-manager in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His peak earnings had been $850 a month; the top rate for a major league player of the time was $10,000, paid monthly to Hank Greenberg in 1947.[2]

In the 1960s, Radcliffe was employed as a baseball scout including for a time with the Cleveland Indians.[4]

Segregation

[edit]

Throughout his career, Double Duty had to endure racial segregation. In every city except Saint Paul, Minnesota, he and his colleagues had to stay in segregated hotels and eat in segregated restaurants. It was difficult to get cabs at night. He also faced racist hostility from players and has said that, among others, "Ty Cobb didn't like colored people". Radcliffe also recalled stopping the team car to buy gas in Waycross, Georgia. When the players tried to drink water from the car wash hose, the owner of the gas station told them, "Put that hose down—that's for white folks to drink." Radcliffe told a Boston Globe interviewer: "After that, I refused to buy gas from him. About four miles down the road, the gas ran out and we had to push the car five miles."[2]

Retirement

[edit]

After leaving baseball, Radcliffe and his wife returned to a life of poverty until 1990, when they were robbed and beaten in their housing project on Chicago's South Side. A news report of this came to the attention of the Baseball Assistance Team, a charity that helps needy ex-players. With the help of the mayor's office, the team helped the couple move into a church-run residence for the elderly.[4]

Frontispiece of McNary's biography of Radcliffe autographed by its subject

Writer Kyle McNary met Radcliffe in 1992 when he was trying to learn more about black baseball in his home town of Bismarck, North Dakota. Radcliffe subsequently suggested that McNary should write his biography and the result was self-published by McNary in 1994. Radcliffe would travel widely to ballgames and became known for his lively good humor and gentle clowning.[2]

Despite two strokes and other age-related health problems, Radcliffe continued to be active in his community. He received the state of Illinois Historical Committee's Lifetime Achievement Award and was honored by Mayor Richard Daley as an outstanding citizen of Chicago. He has been the guest of three U.S. Presidents at the White House. A WGN documentary about Radcliffe's life, narrated by Morgan Freeman, won an Emmy Award. The Illinois Department of Aging inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2002.[5]

In 1997, Radcliffe was inducted into the "Yesterday's Negro League Baseball Players Wall of Fame" at County Stadium in Milwaukee. In 1999, aged 96, he became the oldest player to appear in a professional game just ahead of Buck O'Neil and Jim Eriotes. He threw a single pitch for the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League. After his 100th birthday, Double Duty celebrated each year by throwing a ceremonial first pitch for the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. On July 27, 2005, he threw the first pitch at Rickwood Field, Birmingham, Alabama.[6] Two weeks later, Radcliffe died in Chicago on August 11, 2005, due to complications from cancer.

Radcliffe's stories were entertaining but not always reliable. His claim to have seen Fidel Castro with a cigar at a winter game in Cuba and his observation that the man "couldn't play" seems unlikely given that Castro would have been just 14 at the time.

Raelee Frazier cast Ted Radcliffe's twisted broken hands in bronze as part of the 2003 Hitters Hands series of baseball sculptures that toured the United States in Shades of Greatness, an exhibition sponsored by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.[7]

Bibliography

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ted Radcliffe". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o McNary 1994
  3. ^ Gadfly
  4. ^ a b Goldstein
  5. ^ "2002 Hall of Fame: Performance and Graphic Arts - Theodore 'Double Duty' Radcliffe," Illinois Department of Aging website. Retrieved Aug. 22, 2020.
  6. ^ Birmingham News, 22 July 2005
  7. ^ Frazier
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Ted_Radcliffe&oldid=1261182895"