Alfred Surratt
Alfred Surratt, born November 9th, 1922 in Danville, AR1, was a Negro League baseball player from 1947-1952.Biography
Among the teams Surratt played for were the Detroit Stars, Kansas City Monarchs and the Cuban All-Stars.
In 1990, Surratt co-founded the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City Missouri.
Surratt died February 16th, 20102.
Excerpts
"A major link to baseball's Negro Leagues and the Kansas City Monarchs has passed away. Alfred "Slick" Surratt , an outfielder for the Kansas City Monarchs from 1947 to 1952 and one of the original founders of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, died Monday at age 87 at a nursing home in Kansas City. He was born in Danville, Ark. After the eighth grade, Surratt moved to Kansas City, where his father lived. After his discharge from the Army in 1946, Surratt joined the Detroit Stars in 1947, then moved back to Kansas City to play for the Monarchs. Surratt 's fondest memories were barnstorming with Satchel Paige and playing in Yankee Stadium. In 1952, Surratt 's career with the Monarchs ended. That was also the year he began at the Ford Motor Co. Claycomo plant, where he worked 51 years before he retired. "Usually people shower and put their clothes on and have their retirement party," said Alfred Surratt Jr., his surviving son. "He stayed in his welding gear at his retirement party. He went back to work after the party. He went home and went back to work the next day, then stayed for another 15 years." Surratt was in the original group that came together to form the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, also serving on its board. In the mid-1990s, Surratt became known to a new generation of fans when he was featured in Ken Burns' PBS documentary on baseball. Colorful and outspoken, he had a personality that could light up a room. "He was just as much my best friend as he was my father," said his son. "We were really tight." Late in life, the son enjoyed traveling to Major League Baseball All-Star games with his dad. "I enjoyed meeting the people he had known for years," Surratt said. "I got to meet a whole lot of famous baseball players." Bob Kendrick, the departing marketing director of the museum, said Surratt was the most gregarious of all the Negro Leagues baseball players he had met. "He always had great stories," Kendrick said. "He really endeared himself to virtually everybody who knew him and met him." Bob Motley, a former Negro Leagues baseball umpire, often went to visit Surratt at the nursing home. Motley also serves on the board of the museum. "He's one of the top-notch guys that ever played in the Negro Leagues," Motley said. "And he was my friend for at least 45 years. I saw him three weeks ago. Slick was a live one. Every time I was around him, he was full of life. I hate to see Slick leave us." Former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent met Surratt at a Cooperstown event and described him in his Autobiography. "He just oozed happiness," Vincent wrote. "When you're around someone like that, it's magical." He is also survived by his wife, Tommie Surratt . Services for Surratt will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Morning Star Baptist Church, 2411 E. 27th St. in Kansas City. The family will gather from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the church."2
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