Raymond Emmitt Dandridge (August 31, 1913 – February 12, 1994), nicknamed "Hooks" and "Squat", was an American

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. Dandridge excelled as a third baseman and he hit for a high batting average. By the time that

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

was racially integrated, Dandridge was considered too old to play. He worked as a major league

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, secti ...

after his playing career ended. In 1999, Dandridge was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and, late in his life, Dandridge was inducted into the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

in 1987.

Early life

Dandridge was born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, to Archie and Alberta Thompson Dandridge. He played several sports as a child, including baseball, football and boxing. After sustaining a leg injury in football, Dandridge's father made him quit that sport. He focused on baseball, often playing with a bat improvised from a tree branch and a golf ball wrapped in string and tape. Dandridge lived for a while in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, before he and his family returned to Richmond. He played baseball locally for teams in Richmond's Church Hill district. Dandridge became known for his short, bowed legs, which later led to nicknames including "Hooks" and "Squat". While playing for a local team in 1933, Dandridge was discovered by Indianapolis ABCs/Detroit Stars manager

Candy Jim Taylor James Allen "Candy Jim" Taylor (February 1, 1884April 3, 1948) was an American third baseman and manager in Negro league baseball. In a career that spanned forty years, he played as an infielder in the early years of the 20th century for over a ...

Career

He played for the Stars in 1933 and for the Newark Dodgers, which were later called the Newark Eagles, from 1934 to 1938. While with the Eagles, Dandridge was part of the "Million Dollar Infield" that also consisted of Dick Seay, Mule Suttles, and Willie Wells. In 1939, badly underpaid by the Eagles, Dandridge moved to the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

, where he played for nine of the next ten seasons, rejoining the Eagles for one last season in 1944.

Bill Veeck William Louis Veeck Jr. ( ; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis B ...

of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

called Dandridge in 1947 and asked him to come play in the Cleveland organization. Though that might have given him the chance to be the first black major league player, Dandridge turned it down because he did not want to move his family from Mexico. He also realized that he had been treated well by club owner

Jorge Pasquel Jorge Pasquel (April 23, 1907 - March 1955) was a Mexican businessman and sports executive. He was president of the Mexican League and owned interests in several teams at a time when the league recruited from Negro league baseball and Major League B ...

, who was paying him $10,000 per season plus living expenses. Pasquel died the next year in a plane crash, prompting Dandridge to return to the United States as a player-

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

for the

New York Cubans The New York Cubans were a Negro league baseball team that played during the 1930s and from 1939 to 1950. Despite playing in the Negro leagues, the team occasionally employed white-skinned Hispanic baseball players as well, because Hispanics in ...

. Although more than capable of playing in the majors, he never got the call to the big leagues, instead spending the last years of his career as the premier player in Triple-A baseball,

batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs *Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...

.362 and leading all

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

third basemen in

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

in 1949. He batted .360 in his last minor league season in . Dandridge was one of the greatest fielders in the history of baseball, and one of the sport's greatest hitters for average.

Monte Irvin Monford Merrill "Monte" Irvin (February 25, 1919 – January 11, 2016) was an American left fielder and right fielder in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who played with the Newark Eagles (1938–1942, 1946–1948), New York Giant ...

, who played both in the Negro leagues and the major leagues and saw every great fielding third baseman of two generations, said that Dandridge was the greatest of them all, adding that Dandridge almost never committed more than two

errors An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

in a season. Dandridge was also a tutor to the young

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

. Because of the "

gentlemen's agreement A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding agreement between two or more parties. It is typically oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or th ...

" not to allow African Americans in Major League Baseball, Dandridge was dismissed as being too old by the time of integration.

Later life

After retiring from playing in 1955, Dandridge worked as a scout for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

and later ran a recreation center in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

. He lived his final years in

Palm Bay, Florida Palm Bay is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The city's population was 119,760 at th2020 United States Census making it the most populous city in the county and the largest by land mass. The historic section of the city lies on the ...

. He was elected to the

in . He died at age 80 in Palm Bay. Dandridge's nephew, Brad Dandridge, played professional baseball from 1993 to 1998, primarily in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.

References

External links

an
Seamheads

Ray Dandridge
– Baseballbiography.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Dandridge, Ray 1913 births 1994 deaths African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Azules de Veracruz players Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia Bismarck Barons players Indianapolis ABCs (1931–1933) players Diablos Rojos del México players Homestead Grays players Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Mexican League baseball infielders Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Nashville Elite Giants players National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Newark Dodgers players Newark Eagles players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players People from Palm Bay, Florida Sacramento Solons players 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Early life

Career

Later life

References

Further reading

External links