Born in the small town of Washington Maine on November 30. 1901, Clyde Leroy Sukeforth, or Sukey as he was known in baseball circles, was a typical small town boy. He began playing when he was young and grew as youngsters did in those days to love the game.
Over his career he would catch, coach, manage and scout for major league teams. He is forever tied to the Dodgers by 2 players, Jackie Robinson, and Roberto Clemente. Just how I will reveal this story as it unfolds.
After high school. Sukey went to Georgetown university. He was there for two years and then after a year with the Nashua Millionaires and the Manchester Blue Sox, he was acquired by the Cincinnati Reds in 1926. Sukey batted left, was about 5’11″ and 155 lbs when he played. He was basically a backup catcher.
He only played in 486 games over 10 big league seasons hitting .264 with 2 HR’s and 96 RBI’s. His best season was 1929 when he hit .354 with 84 hits in 84 games.
In 1931 he was hunting with some friends and a pellet from a shotgun pierced his eye. He was able to keep playing, but the injury affected his hitting and in 1932 he was traded to the Dodgers. In the middle of 1934 he was sent to the minors.
He continued to play, and in 1934 he was a player manager. He managed in the Brooklyn system from 1937 to 1942, when he joined the big club as a coach. He was activated at the beginning of the 1945 season and played in 18 games.
He retired as a player for good in 1946. He remained at his job as coach of the Dodgers and since he was well regarded by Branch Rickey, the Dodger owner, a special assignment scout.
Rickey had begun a secret plan to bring a Black player to the majors and break baseball’s long standing segregation. In August of 1947, Rickey sent Sukeforth to Chicago where the Kansas City Monarchs were playing. He wanted Sukey to convince Robinson to come to Brooklyn for a meeting.
Sukey convinced the skeptical Robinson of the sincerity of his job, and after meeting up with Jackie in Toledo, they traveled by train together to Brooklyn. Drawing the stares of many fellow passengers. A Black man and a White man traveling together in the late 1940’s was not a common thing.
Once in Brooklyn, Robinson had his meeting with Rickey, and signed a contract to play for Montreal on August 28, 1946. The only people in the room were Rickey, Robbie and Sukeforth.
Robbie went to Montreal, did well and was at spring training with the Dodgers in 1947. With the 2 positions he was used to being occupied by Pee Wee Reese and Billy Herman, Jackie was handed a first baseman’s glove and worked out there under Sukey’s supervision.
In the meantime, a hail storm had broken out over Leo Durocher and his affair with actress Laraine Day. She was at the time married. But when he was suspended, the commissioner, Happy Chandler, said that he was being suspended for association with known gamblers. All this of course under pressure from the Yankee owner, Larry McPhail.
So, since Burt Shotton had not yet taken over the managerial reins, Jackie’s name was penciled in by the temporary manager, Clyde Sukeforth and history was made. Clyde was replaced by Shotton after game 2 and his managerial record in the majors is 2-0.
Sukey returned to his coaching duties. He was still held in high confidence by Rickey. Rickey sent him to see Don Newcombe who had suffered an arm injury and thought his chance was gone, Sukey consoled him and famously told him that Brooklyn still wanted to sign him.
He went to Nashua with Roy Campanella and made the big club in 1949. Leo had moved on to the Giants to manager and Charlie Dressen took over for Shotton.
Then came 1951 and the playoff series against the Giants. In game 3, Dressen called down to the pen where Sukey was in charge. He asked who was ready, having just seen Carl Erskine short arm a curve in the dirt, he told Dressen, Branca.
Branca came in, and the rest is history. What happened afterwards would eventually affect Dodger history again. Dressen immediately threw the blame on Sukey for recommending Branca. Talk about being tossed under the bus.
So, Sukeforth, knowing working under Dressen would be impossible, he left the organization. He had passed up a chance in 1947 to manage the team as an interim manager.
He now went to Pittsburgh to be a coach for Rickey’s Pirates. In 1954 he was sent to Montreal to check on Joe Black since Rickey was thinking about trading for him. While there and watching the pitchers hit, he saw this kid hitting rocket after rocket off the walls and over. He asked one of the coaches, who is that pitcher hitting all the homers? The reply was what pitcher?
He kept digging and followed a few games. The kid rarely played and never pitched.
But he remembered the name and when that winter, Rickey asked which player if any they should consider taking in the draft, Sukey said immediately, Clemente. The Dodgers had given Clemente a bonus and then against the rules, had tried to hide him at Montreal. He played rarely, but Sukey identified the tools, and let Rickey know this was a guy who could be great.
So, Roberto Clemente became a Pirate after he was taken in the 1954 rule 5 draft, and Dodger history was altered again. First Robbie, and now Clemente. Who knows what the great Roberto would have added to those Dodger teams. An outfield of Clemente, Snider, and Furillo over the last 3 years in Brooklyn? WOW.
Sukey also is in an iconic painting by Norman Rockwell. Tough Call. The painting features 3 umps and a few raindrops falling. Sukey is barely visible behind the umps, but his head is poking out, he is holding a Dodger cap and has his finger pointing to the sky. Pirate manager Billy Myers is playing up the pending rain. I used to have a copy of this picture. It is one of my favorite Rockwell works. The original now hangs in the Hall of Fame.
He also passed up a shot to manage the Pirates after Bobby Bragan was fired and then retired as a coach after the 1957 season. He remained with the Pirates as a scout and occasional minor league manager through 1965.
If you look back over his career and what he saw while he was in the Majors it is impressive. He was traded for one Hall of Famer, Ernie Lombardi, replaced by another, Billy Herman, and beat out Rogers Hornsby for a minor league manager’s job. He saw Babe Ruth pitch in the 1918 series for the Red Sox, he caught Waite Hoyt, Eppa Rixey and Dazzy Vance. Was team mates with Edd Roush, Harry Heilmann, Hack Wilson, Al Lopez and Leo Durocher. He played for Casey Stengel, and Max Carey.
He was a student of the game and somewhat of a historian. He corrected people who said Wilson had hit 56 homers in 1930, no, Hack hit 57. One he hit so hard in Cincy that it bounced off of the seats and back onto the field. All of the players in the pen had seen it, but they kept quiet. Which figures since he was a Red.
His daughter was the light of his life. His wife had died in childbirth. It was many years before he married again. After he was done with baseball he moved back to his home state. He was interviewed for Ken Burns baseball mini series.
When they were getting ready to make 42, Toby Huss, who plays Sukey in the movie began to read as much about him as he could find. And he felt he caught what Sukey was all about in the movie.
One thing you did not see in the movie. Sukeforth tipped the elevator man 2 dollars to let Robinson ride up in the elevator with him. Something also not done in 1945.
His life and baseball were intertwined. And both were very colorful. If there was a Hall for the coaches and scouts he would be in it. One little side note, Sukey saw a kid pitching and he brought the kid in for a workout. Rickey said, that kid has the best arm I have ever seen. But the Pirates owner did not want to pony up a bonus for the kid. A short time later the Dodgers gave the kid his bonus. And he spent the entire season of 1955 on the Dodger roster. Going 2-2 with a 3.02 ERA and almost as many walks as K’s. He knocked another LH off of the roster. His name? Sandy Koufax. Sukey also made a mistake now and then, when sent to scout a young outfielder recommended by Roy Campanella, Sukey was not impressed. His report said, kid can’t hit a curveball. He was talking about a very young Willie Mays. Ya can’t win em all!
Glad to hear that Tommy Lasorda is out of the hospital and resting at home after a month long stay.
Beginning of AA and A seasons will be delayed. Reason? MLB want’s to limit the number of players at a facility, so AA and A players will not be allowed until the big boys and the AAA guys leave.
Excellent article Bear. Another great from Dodger history. How many unsung heroes have we missed in the world of baseball.
Great story Bear. I am left a bit confused over the identity of the numerous people in all those wonderful photographs. I have one in my collection that belonged to my grandfather, circa 1935. It’s a team photo without any identification of the players. I know back then he played with a lot of great ball players in the south but other than him I have no clue who any of them in this picture are.
I read this morning that Arizona and California currently lead the nation in average cases per 100k over the last 7 days. As we inch toward Spring Training, what might this mean?
The top photo in color is from the movie 42. Toby Huss is the actor in the Fedora playing Sukeforth, Harrison Ford is Rickey, The photo of Jackie being congratulated at home is from his first game in Montreal. He had just hit a homer. Photo 3 is the Rockwell painting, Tough Call. Then comes a photo of Sukeforth, his daughter, Helen, her mother died in childbirth. with them is Burt Shotton. Manager of the Dodgers from 48-1950. The 3 catchers are Al Lopez, Sukeforth and Ray Berres. The bottom photo is Robbie and Sukeforth, friends forever,
Thank you!
My pleasure…I should have put that under the photos or at least tagged them so Jeff would know who they are….report says the Dodgers are also pursuing Brad Hand.
Another fun piece of Dodger history. Thx Bear. Where do you come up with all these stories?
I actually knew something of Sukeforth before the movie came out because I remembered an interview Vin did in spring many years ago with Campy and he told the Mays story. But I had read other articles about him. And then the movie 42 brought back the memory that he had helped with Robinson coming to the Dodgers. One ESPN writer called him the Forest Gump of baseball because he knew and played against so many Hall of fame players. Cassidy, I simply love the history of the game, and there are so many colorful people who have played. Many for the Dodgers.
Bear has been around since the beginning of time. He witnessed all this. Next week, he’s going to give us an eyewitness account of the Battle of Valley Forge. 😉
There was no battle at Valley Forge. Valley Forge was a winter camp. And a miserable one at that. Now if you want to know about me n George crossing the Delaware standing up and damn near freezing to death, that I can do.
How are you with Sherman and destroying an enemy’s ability to wage war as a strategy while tactically maneuvering Johnson?
Destroying the enemy’s ability to fight is a proven strategy. It is still used today.
Mother Nature made the Battle of Valley Forge one of the fiercest battles of the revolution.
Bums, Bear was there and he said no battle of valley forge. They left there to fight the battle of Monmouth. Right Bear?
Valley Forge was a winter encampment, one of many used by Washington during the Revolution. It was the main camp of the Continental Army in the winter of 1777. Washington also had troops encamped at Dover Delaware and New Jersey. Valley Forge had been raided by British forces earlier that year and most of the munitions and supply’s had been taken by the Red Coats. Supplying the troops there became very difficult. Between the bad storms and roads, getting anything through was almost impossible. Over 1700 troops died from starvation or disease. They were encamped there from December 1777 to June, 1778. And yes Cassidy, when they left Valley Forge they traveled to New Jersey and engaged the Brits at the Battle of Monmouth. Clinton was the British commander during that campaign, which ended up with the British continuing their withdrawal from the area. Clinton’s second in command was Lord Cornwallis.
Maybe it should be called Father Nature. Or Evil Uncle Earl Nature.
Hope all of us Americans, and non-Americans on this board, are witnessing the terrorism currently occurring at the Capitol Building right now.
As somebody said a few months ago “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” Do it
What an absolutely disgusting thing to say. You have to have a pretty black hole where your soul used to be to publicly advocate that fellow Americans be gunned down en masse, Tiananmen Square style.
I’m quoting what Donald Trump said about Black Lives Matter protestors.
If it works for them, why doesn’t it apply here? Get over yourself
If it was so reprehensible when Trump said it, why is it now something you’re applauding? And I’m not Trump. Why are you asking me to try to justify something he said months ago?
I wasn’t asking you to do anything,
But if you found HIS quote in this context to be “disgusting” I hope you expressed that same opinion when the initial quote was said, when aimed at a different group of people.
Can’t help yourself can you patch.
This is a sad day for our democracy.
Good to see re-sign of Blake Treinen and still in on Brad Hand. Any thoughts on sign Chris Archer to 1 yr incentive laden contract ? if he’s healthy good get. Hope this FA standstill breaks loose soon !
Bear you must have hung out with Sherman and Peabody in the “Way-Back Machine” to have been in all of these places and have first hand knowledge. Great article again today. What a fascinating guy and career. I love baseball lifers. And the pictures are super. Speaking of lifers, I was roaming the Dodger minor league side a few winters ago and ran into a guy who had been throwing BP to some minor league guys. He offered me some water (instead of throwing me out), gave me a tour of the place and we talked some baseball. He had worked with a couple of kids like Jason Repko that I had coached against at the high school level. The Gentleman, and I mean that sincerely, was John Shoemaker. Now there is a lifer. I bet he has a fascinating history with the Dodgers. He might make an interesting story someday down the road.
I remember Shoemaker. Always wondered why the guy never was promoted to the majors. His only AAA gig was one year as manager of the 51’s when the Dodgers had a team in Vegas. He is currently the Loons manager. He has been in the organization since 1981. Interesting guy. He was drafted by the Dodgers in the 35th round in 1977….and bet you did not know this, he was also drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the 6th round of the 1978 NBA draft.
OK, let’s end the political rhetoric. This is a case of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. We are not going to talk about it here because there are lots of issues at play and we will not engage in that.
Baseball is having a hard enough time being interesting with a slow developing Hot Stove without having difficulty in the peaceful transfer of power we are having to endure but lets try to talk baseball.
I like the rumor of Kulber and Archer becoming Dodgers. They probably won’t but wow, that would be a lot of depth added to the pitching.
Who is better, Muncy or Voit, Yankees first baseman?
Who is better, Turner or JDLM as a third baseman?
Who provides more versatility, Turner or JDLM?
Who is better, Arenado, Turner, DJLM, Machado?
I could see 1 of Kluber and Archer. Especially if they’d need to start in the minor leagues
I would think Kluber has better odds of bouncing back sooner than Archer but Archer is such a fun interview. Archer would be a great and positive clubhouse persona.
Who is better, Muncy or Voit, Yankees first baseman?
It’s not even close: Muncy! Look at the stats.
Who is better, Turner or JDLM as a third baseman?
JDLM is better because he is younger, but at what cost?
Who provides more versatility, Turner or JDLM?
DJLM
Who is better, Arenado, Turner, DJLM, Machado?
Machado
Voit has become a good defensive first baseman, hits from the right side, and has a strong 2019 season and a great 2020 season. Voit career wRC+ is 138, Muncy career wRC+ is 127.
Yankees could get a lefty bat and Dodgers could get a righty bat if they swapped teams. Maybe Friedman could make them part of a bigger trade package that would better balance the trade.
Max has reverse splits, so that blows up that argument!
Not really. Voit projects better with a similar number of at bats. Neither are good defensively. Muncy is ours so I’ll take him.
For me Treinen =Turner. Stick with the stars that got you there. Turner will sign a two year deal with a third year option to stay Big Blue!
Ive felt the same about a future JT deal. 2 plus the option.
I’m starting to come around to adding a couple more starter capable pitchers. After last year’s short season, no one is stretched out for 160-200 innings in 2020. Particularly with some of our younger pitchers.
If we use 5 innings a start (the new normal?) that is 810 innings in the regular season or 162 innings per starter. With an average of 120 innings per starter we are up to 7 starters.
To get a reasonably rested rotation going into the playoffs we probably need 8 – 9 starters in 2021.
SP on 26 man
Kershaw
Buehler
Price
Urias
May
Gonsolin
is 6
SP on 40 man
White
Santana
Jackson
NRI’s
Nelson
Stewart
Other
Gray
That is 6 possible additions to the 26 man for SP’s but pretty thin if we are looking for more than a couple spot starts or cups of coffee.
I’m on the fence as to whether we add another mid to top of the rotation starter but I could certainly understand a couple more NRI flyers or AAAA starters
I think Gray is 7th or 8th,
Jim Bowden has the Dodgers in on about 8 different RH hitting infielders; Jon Heyman has them in on Brad Hand and Liam Hendriks. (He wonders if they’re building a “super ‘pen”.)
Heyman’s info is usually pretty good – Bowden doesn’t seem to know anything.
He was right on with his Christmas gift of Arenado! Talk about fake news! And who has more starting pitching depth than us. We have plenty of pitching firepower to get into the playoffs. Just keep the top four healthy and rested. And let the young guys eat during the regular season.