Clyde Sukeforth

Clyde Sukeforth
Catcher
Born: November 30, 1901(1901-11-30) Washington, Maine
Died: September 3, 2000(2000-09-03) (aged 98) Waldoboro, Maine
Batted: Left	Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 23, 1926 for the Cincinnati Reds
Last MLB appearance
June 7, 1945 for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Career statistics
Batting average	.264
Home runs	2
Runs batted in	96
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (1926-1931) Brooklyn Dodgers (1932-1934; 1945)
Career highlights and awards
Coach, Brooklyn, 1943-51 Coach, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1952-57

Clyde Leroy Sukeforth (November 30, 1901—September 3, 2000), nicknamed "Sukey," was a former Major League Baseball catcher, coach, scout and manager who was best known for scouting and signing the Major Leagues' first black player in the modern era, Jackie Robinson.

Sukeforth was born in Washington, Maine. After two years at Georgetown University, followed by a year in the New England League with the Nashua Millionaires and the Manchester Blue Sox, he was signed by the Cincinnati Reds as a catcher in 1926. His best year was 1929 when he batted .354. Two years later he lost partial sight of his right eye from being hit by a shotgun pellet while bird hunting on November 16.^[1]

He continued to play, but not as well, and in 1932 was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sukeforth, who batted left-handed and threw right-handed, appeared in 486 games over all or parts of ten seasons (1926–34 and 1945 as a fill-in-during the World War II manpower shortage), compiling a batting average of .264 with two home runs and 96 runs batted in.

Sukeforth managed in the Brooklyn farm system with the Elmira Pioneers of the Class A Eastern League and the Montreal Royals of the AA International League before his promotion to the Dodger coaching staff in 1943. Sukeforth was the only other person in the room when Dodger president Branch Rickey told Robinson of his plans to sign him to a contract to play in Montreal in 1946. Sukeforth was officially listed as a coach on Brooklyn's major league staff at the time, but also performed scouting duties for the club.

In addition to serving on Leo Durocher's coaching staff and his scouting assignments for Dodgers president Rickey, he worked behind the scenes in 1946 to help create the new Nashua Dodgers of the Class B New England League. Sukeforth helped the Nashua team forge ties with the New Hampshire community, easing the racial integration of the league when Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe were assigned to that club.

Sukeforth managed the Dodgers for two games in 1947, replacing Durocher, who was suspended by the league for the season for "conduct detrimental to baseball." In the process, he managed Jackie Robinson's first Major League game. But Sukeforth and a fellow coach, Ray Blades, each turned down the opportunity to serve as acting manager for the rest of the season; ultimately, Brooklyn scout Burt Shotton assumed that role, and led them to the 1947 National League pennant.

In 1951, when Dodger manager Chuck Dressen needed a reliever to face the New York Giants' Bobby Thomson in the ninth inning of the decisive third game of the National League pennant playoff, Sukeforth, coaching in the Dodger bullpen, passed over Carl Erskine and sent in Ralph Branca, who gave up Thomson's "shot heard 'round the world". Fired after the season, Sukeforth moved to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where Rickey was executive vice president and general manager, in 1952. There, as a coach and occasional scout, he played a role in the drafting of Roberto Clemente from the Brooklyn organization in the 1954 Rule V draft. Once again passing up a Major League managing assignment after turning down the chance to succeed Pirate skipper Bobby Bragan^[2] on August 3, 1957, Sukeforth retired as a coach at the end of the 1957 season. But he remained in the Pirates organization as a scout and occasional minor league manager through 1962. He then worked as a scout for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves.

Sukeforth died at age 98 in Waldoboro, Maine. By his request, no services were held. He is buried in Waldoboro, Maine.

References

1. ^ "Sukeforth Certain Vision Not Impaired". The Sporting News: p. 2. December 3, 1931. 
2. ^ The New York Times, August 4, 1957.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Charles Francis (2006). "Sixty Years on the Baseball Diamond: Washington's homegrown Clyde Sukeforth". Discover Maine: Maine's History Magazine 3: 18–21. 
• The Deadball Era

Preceded by Leo Durocher

Brooklyn Dodgers Manager 1947

Succeeded by Burt Shotton

Persondata
Name	Sukeforth, Clyde
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 30, 1901
Place of birth	Washington, Maine
Date of death	September 3, 2000
Place of death	Waldoboro, Maine