'Double Duty' Radcliffe's Busy Life
Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe (top row far right in the enlargement) was a star pitcher and catcher for the 1935 Bismarck (N.D.) Churchills, one of the first integrated semipro baseball teams.
Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe (top row far right in the enlargement) was a star pitcher and catcher for the 1935 Bismarck (N.D.) Churchills, one of the first integrated semipro baseball teams.
Bismarck Churchills enlarged photo details: Top row, from left: Hilton Smith, Red Haley, Barney Morris, Satchel Paige, Moose Johnson, Quincy Trouppe, Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe; Bottom row: Joe Desiderato, Axel Leary, Neil Churchill (manager), Dan Oberholzer, Ed Hendee
Radcliffe, celebrating his 100th birthday, in 2002.
Negro League baseball legend Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe died Thursday at the age of 103. He had been the oldest living pro baseball player.
Radcliffe played for more than 15 teams in the Negro Leagues from 1919 to 1954. Writer Damon Runyon gave Radcliffe the nickname Double Duty in 1932 when he was the catcher in one game of a doubleheader and the pitcher in the next.
In May, he was among 14 Negro Leagues players honored in a ceremony at RFK Stadium.
Melissa Block talks to Kyle P. McNary, author of Ted 'Double Duty' Radcliffe: 36 Years Of Pitching and Catching In Baseball's Negro Leagues.
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