by David Fleitz

(coming in October 2002)

by David Fleitz

Comments? Send e-mail to
dlfleitz@wcnet.org

Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe, 1902-present, was a star of the Negro Leagues before baseball was integrated.  He turned 100 on July 7 of this year.

Ralph Erickson, 1902-2002.  He became baseball's tenth centenarian on June 25, 2002, and died two days later.

P.S.  The oldest Hall of Fame player was Elmer Flick, who died in 1971, two days before his 95th birthday.  Flick played for Philadelphia and Cleveland from 1898 to 1910.

There's a website called "Who's Alive and Who's Dead" that keeps track of celebrities and tells you, well, who's alive and who's dead.  Click here to see it.

One of their lists (under "Odds and Ends," right next to the lists of astronauts and members of the Mickey Mouse Club) concerns major league baseball players.

They've been busy lately keeping the list updated.  Karl Swanson, who played second base for the White Sox in 1928 and 1929, entered 2002 as baseball's oldest living ex-player, but he died on April 3 at the age of 101.  The mantle then passed to Ralph Erickson, who pitched in 8 games for the Pirates in 1929 and 1930.  Erickson, a retiree who lived in Chandler, Arizona, turned 100 on June 25, 2002, but died two days later.

Now, we have a problem.  The oldest living ex-player is not on the web site's list, because he is not the oldest living ex-major leaguer.

The title of "oldest living ex-player" should rightfully go to Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe, one of the great stars of the Negro Leagues from 1928 to 1950.  He was born in Mobile, Alabama on July 7, 1902, and played sandlot ball as a youngster with fellow Mobile native Satchel Paige.  Radcliffe played semipro ball until he was in his mid-twenties, but then entered the Negro Leagues and enjoyed a long career as a multi-position player and, eventually, a manager.  He was 45 years old when baseball was desegregated in 1947, and he never got a chance to play in the majors.

However, the oldest living former major leaguer is now Ray Hayworth, who was born on January 29, 1904.  Hayworth, a catcher, joined the Detroit Tigers in 1926 and is, as far as I can tell, the only living teammate of Ty Cobb.  Hayworth played for the Tigers and other teams until 1945, and participated in the 1934 World Series.

Ray Hayworth, 98 years old, is now the oldest living major leaguer.

The next two oldest living major leaguers are Paul Hopkins, 97, who pitched in 11 games for the Browns and Senators in 1927 and 1929, and Billy Rogell, 97, who played shortstop for the Red Sox, Tigers, and Cubs from 1925 to 1940. 

There are only four other men, besides Hayworth, Hopkins, and Rogell, who played major league ball in the 1920s and are still alive. One is Al Lopez, 93, the oldest living member of the Hall of Fame. Another is Willis Hudlin, 96, who pitched for Cleveland and gave up Babe Ruth's 500th homer on August 11, 1929.  (Note: Hudlin passed away on August 5, 2002.)  The others are Bob Cremins, 96 (four games for the Red Sox in 1927) and Mel Harder, 92, who won 223 games in a 20-year career for Cleveland.

I don't know about you, but I find this stuff interesting.  Did you know that Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the widow of the former pre-Communist ruler of China, turned 105 years old last February?  Or that Bob Hope and Strom Thurmond are both 99 years old, while well-known people like Katharine Hepburn, Eddie Albert, and Buddy Ebsen are still going in their mid-90s?

To find out more about really old celebrities, see the web site that I mentioned above.