Bar Regular, Lautrec Radcliffe, has some baseball in his history!A Great Uncle: Theodore Roosevelt Radcliffe is a famous Negro League player and he’s throwing out the first pitch in B-Ham on Wednesday Night against the Montgomery Biscuts. He’s 104 Year Old!! Here’s More Info on Him!! | The Negro League | Birmingham News Story on His First Pitch Tonight!
Here’s More: The widely traveled Ted Radcliffe was a man of many talents. Not only was a he 3 time all-star catcher, he matched this accomplishment with 3 all-star nominations as a pitcher. In the 1932 Negro World Series he caught Satchel Paige in the first game of a doubleheader, then pitched a shutout in the second game. This performance prompted sportswriter Damon Runyon to provide the nickname “Double Duty”.
From 1928 through 1950 Radcliffe (brother of Negro Leagues star, Alex Radcliffe) played with more than 15 clubs, including the great 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords team. Like his friend and sometime business associate Satchel Paige, Radcliffe was always open to a better offer. Throughout his career Radcliffe exercised an entrepreneurial spirit, often forming all-star teams of Negro Leagues stars for the purpose of independently booking exhibition games against white major league stars. More often than not, Satchel Paige was Radcliffe’s business partner in these highly successful ventures.
In addition to his catching and pitching duties Radcliffe began taking on managerial responsibilities during the late 1930s. In 1937 and 1938 he managed the Memphis Red Sox and in 1943 took the helm of the Chicago American Giants. Throughout this time he continued as an active player.
A flamboyant personality second only to Satchel Paige made Radcliffe a crowd pleaser throughout his career.
From the Archives — originally published on the Opelika Daily News on July 27, 2005. View the original page.
