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Ted 'Double Duty' Radcliffe

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Baseball Player

The Resume

    (July 7, 1902-August 11, 2005)
    Birth name is Theodore Roosevelt Radcliffe
    Nicknamed for his ability to pitch one game of a doubleheader and catch the other
    Career spanned from 1920-56 in the pro & semi-pro Negro Leagues as a player and/or manager
    Played for the Detroit Stars, St. Louis Stars, Homestead Grays, Pittsburgh Crawfords, Columbus Blue Birds, Cleveland Giants, New York Black Yankees, Chicago American Giants, Brooklyn Eagles, Claybrook Tigers, Cincinnati Tigers, Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons, Kansas City Monarchs and Louisville Buckeyes
    Played in 6 Negro League East-West All-Star games - 3 as pitcher and 3 as catcher
    Hit .376 (11-for-29) in nine exhibition games against major leaguers
    Biography 'Ted 'Double Duty' Radcliffe: 36 Years of Pitching and Catching in Baseball's Negro Leagues' published in 1995
    Died at 103

Why he might be annoying:

    Some of the pitches he threw, like the spitter, cut ball and emery ball, were illegal.
    He caught the wrath of Ty Cobb in an exhibition game by wearing a chest protector inscribed with the words 'Thou Shalt Not Steal.'
    Exact stats of his accomplishments cannot be verified.
    Nobody will ever know how good of a major leaguer he would have been, due to segregation.
    He 'threw out' the first pitch of a Washington Nationals game in 2005 (from a wheelchair into the glove of first base coach Don Buford about 6 inches away).

Why he might not be annoying:

    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.
    When he played for the Kansas City Monarchs, he roomed with Jackie Robinson.
    Estimates have him with around 4,000 hits, 400 home runs and 4,000 strike-outs.
    Since he was never a MLB player, he has not been elected to the Hall Of Fame.
    At age 96, he became the oldest player to appear in a professional game, throwing a single pitch for the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League (1999).
    He is a goodwill ambassador of the game and doesn't gripe about the past, saying: 'baseball's been good to me all my life.'
    Frank Robinson stated he likely never would have had a chance to play or manage in the Major Leagues if the Negro Leaguers like him didn't pave the way.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 25 Votes: 76.00% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 17 Votes: 64.71% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 17 Votes: 47.06% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 25 Votes: 36.00% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 35 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 88 Votes: 46.59% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 144 Votes: 40.97% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 498 Votes: 44.98% Annoying