Ted Radcliffe
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Theodore Roosevelt "Double Duty" Radcliffe (July 7, 1902 – August 11, 2005) was a professional baseball player in the
Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
. An accomplished
two-way player In sports that require a player to play on offense and defense (such as basketball and ice hockey), a two-way player refers to a player who excels at both. In sports where a player typically specializes on offense or defense (like American footb ...
, he played as a
pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
and a
catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
, 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 Chester Cornelius "Red" Hoff (May 8, 1891 – September 17, 1998) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Biography Early life Chester ("Chet" or "Red") Hoff was born in Ossining, New York, the fifth child (and fourth ...
(who lived to 107) and fellow Negro leaguer
Silas Simmons Silas Joseph Simmons (October 14, 1895 – October 29, 2006) was an American semi-professional and professional baseball player for African-American teams in the pre-Negro leagues era, and became the longest-lived major league player in history. ...
(who lived to age 103). Newspaperman
Damon Runyon Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American newspaperman and short-story writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To ...
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 The Pittsburgh Crawfords, popularly known as the Craws, were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team, previously known as the Crawford Colored Giants, was named after the Crawford Bath House, a recre ...
and the
New York Black Yankees The New York Black Yankees were a professional Negro league baseball team based in New York City; Paterson, New Jersey; and Rochester, New York. Beginning as the independent Harlem Stars, the team was renamed the New York Black Yankees in 1932 and ...
. In the first of the two games at
Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...
, Radcliffe caught the pitcher
Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...
for a
shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...
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.McNary 1994 Of the six
East-West All-Star Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...
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 leaguers.


Career


Early life

Ted Radcliffe grew up in
Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
as one of ten children. His brother
Alex Radcliffe Alex Radcliffe (July 26, 1905 – July 18, 1983) was a baseball player in the Negro leagues. He is widely acknowledged to have been the best third baseman in the history of the Negro American League. He was the brother of Ted "Double Duty" R ...
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 (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
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 Illinois Giants were a barnstorming Negro league baseball team in the 1920s. The Illinois Giants are noted as having played in 1910 and 1919 to 1929. Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe joined the team in 1920 Events January * January 1 ** Pol ...
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 Gilkerson's Union Giants were an independent Negro semi-pro baseball team headed by Robert Gilkerson in the 1920s and 1930s. The team was noted as having played in 1920 and 1930 to 1931. Notable players * Ted "Double Duty Radcliffe" * John Donalds ...
, another semi-pro team with whom he played until he entered the Negro National League with the Detroit Stars in 1928.


Pro ball

After a brief tenure with the
Detroit Stars The Detroit Stars were an American baseball team in the Negro leagues and played at historic Mack Park. The Stars had winning seasons every year but two, but were never able to secure any championships. Among their best players was Baseball Hall of ...
, Radcliffe played for the St. Louis Stars (1930),
Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 in sports, 1912 by Cumb ...
(1931), Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932),
Columbus Blue Birds The Columbus Blue Birds were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Columbus, Ohio in 1931 and 1933. Founding Their name appears to have been derived from that of the Columbus Red Birds, the top-level minor league baseball team th ...
(1933),
New York Black Yankees The New York Black Yankees were a professional Negro league baseball team based in New York City; Paterson, New Jersey; and Rochester, New York. Beginning as the independent Harlem Stars, the team was renamed the New York Black Yankees in 1932 and ...
,
Brooklyn Eagles Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...
,
Cincinnati Tigers The Cincinnati Tigers were a professional Negro league baseball team that was based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founding The club was founded in 1934 in sports, 1934 by DeHart Hubbard, who was the first African American to win an individual Olympic Ga ...
,
Memphis Red Sox The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club, the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin, a local Memphis barber. In the la ...
,
Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with the white Birmingham Barons, usually drawing larger crowds and equal pres ...
,
Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Fo ...
,
Louisville Buckeyes The Cleveland Buckeyes were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1942 to 1950 in the Negro American League. The Buckeyes played in two Negro World Series, defeating the Washington Homestead Grays in 1945, and losing to the New York Cub ...
and
Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...
. Ted Radcliffe managed the Cincinnati Tigers in 1937, Memphis Red Sox in 1938 and Chicago American Giants in 1943. Radcliffe was known as a glib, fast-talking player.
Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...
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 Baseball statistics play an important role in evaluating the progress of a player or team. Since the flow of a baseball game has natural breaks to it, and normally players act individually rather than performing in clusters, the sport lends itsel ...
). 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 An emery ball is an illegal pitch in baseball, in which the ball has been altered by scuffing it with a rough surface, such as an emery board or sandpaper. This technique alters the spin of the ball, causing it to move in an atypical manner, a ...
, the cut ball and the spitter. Statistics for the
Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
are incomplete, but available records show him hitting .273 over eight of his 23 seasons. 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. Radcliffe believed the Homestead Grays 1931 team to be the greatest team of all time. The side included
Josh Gibson Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 – January 20, 1947) was an American baseball catcher primarily in the Negro leagues. Baseball historians consider Gibson among the best power hitters and catchers in baseball history. In 1972, he became the se ...
,
Oscar Charleston Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. Over his 43-year baseball career, Charleston played or managed with more than a dozen teams, including the Home ...
,
Jud Wilson Ernest Judson Wilson (February 28, 1894 – June 24, 1963), nicknamed "Boojum", was an American third baseman, first baseman, and manager in Negro league baseball. He played for the Baltimore Black Sox, the Homestead Grays, and the Philadelphia ...
, and
Smokey Joe Williams Joseph Williams (April 6, 1886 – February 25, 1951), nicknamed "Cyclone Joe" and "Smokey Joe", was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball. He is considered one of the greatest pitchers of all-time and was elected to the Natio ...
. 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. Radcliffe was player-manager of the integrated
Jamestown Red Sox The Jamestown Red Sox were an integrated semi-professional baseball team based in Jamestown, North Dakota, in the 1930s. The Red Sox played independently of any league because their mixed race roster was a problem in a period of segregation. As the ...
of
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
from May to October 1934. This made him the first black man to manage white professional players. He also played for the
Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Fo ...
in that season. During that postseason, he managed a white semi-pro
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
team that toured Canada playing a major league all-star team gathered by
Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...
. Radcliffe's team won two games out of three before Foxx was hit on the head by a
Chet Brewer Chester Arthur Brewer (January 14, 1907 – March 26, 1990) was an American right-handed pitcher in baseball's Negro leagues. Born in Leavenworth, Kansas, he played for the Kansas City Monarchs, and from 1957 to 1974 he scouted for the Pittsburgh ...
pitch and the tour cancelled. 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 The Bismarck team was an integrated semi-professional baseball team based in Bismarck, North Dakota, in the 1930s. The team played independently of any league because its mixed-race roster was a problem in a period of segregation, and because ther ...
. Along with
Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...
, Moose Johnson, and others, Radcliffe helped to lead the club to the first
National Semipro Championship The National Semipro Championship was a baseball tournament that started in 1935 and became the National Baseball Congress World Series. In the inaugural year, the integrated Bismarck Churchills (sometimes called the Bismarck Semipros) of Bism ...
. This
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
team was owned by
Neil Churchill Neil O. Churchill (February 13, 1891 – September, 1969) was a car dealer in Bismarck, North Dakota who funded an integrated baseball team in the mid-thirties more than a decade before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major Leag ...
, a car dealer. Other Negro leaguers on the team included Chet Brewer,
Hilton Smith Hilton Lee Smith (February 27, 1907 – November 18, 1983) was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league baseball. He pitched alongside Satchel Paige for the Kansas City Monarchs between 1932 and 1948. He was inducted into the National B ...
,
Barney Morris Barney Morris (June 3, 1910 – May 24, 1962) was an American baseball player in the Negro leagues. A skillful pitcher, he played for the Monroe Monarchs, the Bismarck Churchills, the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and the New York Cubans The New Yor ...
and
Quincy Trouppe Quincy Thomas Trouppe (December 25, 1912 – August 10, 1993) was an American professional baseball player and an amateur boxing champion. He was a catcher in the Negro leagues from 1930 to 1949. He was a native of Dublin, Georgia. Early life H ...
. 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 The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''An ...
MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
award that season and a year later he struck a home run into the upper deck of
Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a baseball park in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-southwest side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Buil ...
for the highlight of that season's East-West All-Star game. In 1945 Radcliffe played for the Kansas City Monarchs and roomed with
Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...
. He integrated two semipro leagues, the Southern Minny (
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
) 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 Louis John Chirban (August 26, 1930 – December 5, 2008)Louis John Chirban
Lou Clarizio Louis Clarizio, Jr. (born September 21, 1931) is one of the six white professional baseball players signed to play in the Negro leagues, the second ever signed. He played in the Negro American League. He was signed to the Chicago American Giants ...
. As player-manager with the
Elmwood Giants The name Elmwood Giants has been used since 1905 by various Canadian baseball teams based in the Elmwood community of Winnipeg, Manitoba. , the Elmwood Giants Baseball Club, Inc. operates four teams: the Elmwood Giants Juniors (AAA) (members of ...
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 The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acqu ...
'' poll of
Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
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 Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, 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 Henry Benjamin Greenberg (born Hyman Greenberg; January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", or "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major Leagu ...
in 1947. In the 1960s, Radcliffe was employed as a baseball scout including for a time with the
Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
.Goldstein


Segregation

Throughout his career, Double Duty had to endure
racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
. In every city except
Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...
, 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 Waycross is the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Ware County in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 14,725 at the 2010 Census and dropped to 13,942 in the 2020 census. Waycross includes two historic districts (Downtown ...
. 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."


Retirement

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 The Baseball Assistance Team is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization affiliated with Major League Baseball. The organization's mission is to "confidentially support members of the ''Baseball Family'' in need of assistance." The baseball family inc ...
, 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. 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 Bismarck () is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the state's second-most populous city, after Fargo. The city's population was 73,622 in the 2020 census, while its metropolitan popula ...
. 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. 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. In 1997, Radcliffe was inducted into the "Yesterday's Negro League Baseball Players Wall of Fame" at
County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Opened in 1953, it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also used for Green Bay Packer ...
in
Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
. In 1999, aged 96, he became the oldest player to appear in a professional game; he threw a single pitch for the
Schaumburg Flyers The Schaumburg Flyers were a professional baseball team based in Schaumburg, Illinois, in the United States. The Flyers were to be charter members of the North American League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, but the team fol ...
of the Northern League. After his 100th birthday, Double Duty celebrated each year by throwing a ceremonial first pitch for the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
at
U.S. Cellular Field Guaranteed Rate Field is a baseball stadium located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It serves as the home stadium of the Chicago White Sox, one of the city's two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, and is owned by the state ...
. On July 27, 2005, he threw the first pitch at
Rickwood Field Rickwood Field, located in Birmingham, Alabama, is the oldest professional baseball park in the United States. It was built for the Birmingham Barons in 1910 by industrialist and team-owner Rick Woodward and has served as the home park for the Bi ...
,
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
. Two weeks later, Radcliffe died in Chicago on August 11, 2005, due to complications from
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
. Radcliffe's stories were entertaining but not always reliable. His claim to have seen
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
with a cigar at a winter game in
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
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 The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) is a privately funded museum dedicated to preserving the history of Negro league baseball in America. It was founded in 1990 in Kansas City, Missouri, in the historic 18th & Vine District, the hub of Afri ...
.Frazier


Bibliography

*'Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe', ''Jet'', July 22, 1996 *'Still Loving Baseball At 100', ''Jet'', (June 9, 2003) *'Honoring Legends', ''Jet'', July 28, 2003 *'Celebrating 102!', Jet, July 26, 2004
'2002 Hall of Fame Inductees', ''Illinois Department of Aging (2002)
Retrieved July 24, 2005. *'"Double Duty" Knows Baseball' ''Los Angeles Times'', June 20, 2003.

*[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)]
'Ted Radcliffe Biography', ''The History Makers'' (2005)'Double-Duty to throw out first pitch', ''Birmingham News'', July 22, 2005
Retrieved July 24, 2005. *Blake, Mike. ''Baseball Chronicles'', (Cincinnati, Oh: Betterway Books, 1994) *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. 12–24

*[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
Goldstein, Richard. 'Ted Radcliffe, Star of the Negro Leagues, Is Dead at 103', ''The New York Times'' (August 12, 2005)
*Hershberger, Chuck. 'Baseball Book Review', ''Oldtyme Baseball News 1995'' (Vol. 6, Issue 5) p. 28 *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) *Larry Lester, Sammy J. Miller and Dick Clark, Black Baseball in Chicago, (Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2000)
Ted Radcliffe
- Baseballbiography.com *McNary, Kyle P. ''Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe: 36 Years Of Pitching & Catching In Baseball's Negro Leagues'' (Minneapolis: McNary Publishing, 1994)

Retrieved July 25, 2005. * ttp://z.lee28.tripod.com/sbnslegends/id7.html McNary, Kyle P. 'Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe', ''Simply Baseball Notebook: Legends'' (March 2002)br>McNary, Kyle P. 'Negro Leaguer of the Month, July, 2004', ''Pitch Black Baseball'' (July 2004)
*Peterson, Robert W. ''Only The Ball Was White'', (New York: Prentice-Hall Englewood-Cliffs, 1970)
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. 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. 17


References


External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball and stats
an
SeamheadsTed Radcliffe
- Baseballbiography.com
Find a Grave Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radcliffe, Ted 1902 births 2005 deaths African-American baseball players African-American centenarians American centenarians American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Azules de Veracruz players Baseball players from Alabama Birmingham Black Barons players Bismarck Churchills players Brooklyn Eagles players Chicago American Giants players Cincinnati Tigers (baseball) players Columbus Blue Birds players Deaths from cancer in Illinois Detroit Stars players Elmwood Giants players Homestead Grays players Kansas City Monarchs players Louisville Buckeyes players Memphis Red Sox players Men centenarians Mexican League baseball players Negro league baseball managers New York Black Yankees players Pittsburgh Crawfords players St. Louis Stars (baseball) players Sportspeople from Mobile, Alabama 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people