Editing Ted Radcliffe (section)

==Career==

===Early life===
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.

===Pro ball===
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 />

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. 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 />

[[File:1930-31 Homstead Grays.jpg|thumb|left|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 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 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 />

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 />

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 />

In the 1960s, Radcliffe was employed as a baseball scout including for a time with the [[Cleveland Indians]].<ref name=autogenerated1>Goldstein</ref>