Albert Donald Spangler (born July 8, 1933) is a retired American

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 (AL), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

.Career Statistics and Batting Game Logs
a
Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> Spangler appeared in 912 games in the majors between and for the Milwaukee Braves, Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Los Angeles / California Angels, and Chicago Cubs. Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, he threw and batted left-handed, and was listed as tall and .

High school and college career

Spangler, nicknamed "Spanky", attended

Olney High School Olney Charter High School, formerly Aspira Charter School at Olney, and Olney High School, is a public high school located in the Olney neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Previously directly controlled by the School District of Philade ...

. After turning down a professional contract offer from the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, he was slated to attend

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river that joins the Delaware R ...

, with a full scholarship, but he decided to attend Duke University. He was an All-American college selection after his junior year as Blue Devil, thanks to his .406

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

Professional career

Not quite four weeks before his 21st birthday, Spangler signed as a free agent with the Braves on June 14, 1954. He made his

MLB 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 (AL), ...

debut on September 16, , and would go on to play his final game on September 11, . After spending both and as a reserve outfielder for Milwaukee, Spangler was drafted by the Houston Colt .45s as a premium selection in the

1961 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1961 MLB Expansion Draft was held by Major League Baseball on October 10, 1961, to fill the rosters of the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s, the new franchises which would enter the league in the 1962 season. The pool of players out of w ...

. He was the Colt. 45s' starting center fielder in the club's first major-league game, played against the Cubs on April 10, . Batting second in the order, he drove in the first run in franchise history with a RBI

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

in the bottom of the first inning off Cubs' starting pitcher

Don Cardwell Donald Eugene Cardwell (December 7, 1935 – January 14, 2008) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) right-handed pitcher who played for five National League (NL) teams from 1957 to 1970. He was the first pitcher in major league history to ...

, knocking in teammate

Bob Aspromonte Robert Thomas Aspromonte (born June 19, 1938) is an American former professional baseball player and business entrepreneur. He played as a third baseman in Major League Baseball in and then from to , most prominently as a member of the newly for ...

. His .285 mark during the Colt .45s' maiden season was second by .001 to fellow outfielder Román Mejías' .286, but the following year Spangler was the team's batting average leader at .281 in 120 games played. After his hitting declined in both (.245) and (.214), Spangler was traded to the Angels on June 1, 1965. He appeared in only 57 games (starting 20) for the Angels over the next season and a half, and spent most of at Triple-A

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. Released by the Angels on February 13, , Spangler signed with the Cubs as a free agent three days later. Although he spent part of 1967 and at Triple-A Tacoma, Spangler played the rest of his big-league tenure with the Cubs. On June 12, , he hit two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and drove in four runs in a 12 to 6 victory over the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

. The Cubs released Spangler as an active player after the season and named him to

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 activities ...

Leo Durocher Leo Ernest Durocher (French spelling Léo Ernest Durocher) (; July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed "Leo the Lip" and "Lippy", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an infie ...

's coaching staff for . On August 30, 1971, he was added to the team's active list, and

pinch hit In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Americ ...

five times during the month of September, garnering two hits. That brief stint concluding his MLB career. In his 912 games played, Spangler batted .262 with 21 career home runs and 175 runs batted in. His 594 hits also included 87 doubles and 26 triples. Spangler remained with the Cubs' organization for another three seasons; he managed in their farm system in 1972 and 1973, then returned to their big-league coaching staff in 1974 for a final season.

References

External links

Retrosheet
1933 births Living people Baseball players from Philadelphia California Angels players Chicago Cubs coaches Chicago Cubs players Duke Blue Devils baseball players Evansville Braves players Houston Astros players Houston Colt .45s players Jacksonville Braves players Los Angeles Angels players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball outfielders Seattle Angels players Tacoma Cubs players Wichita Braves players {{US-baseball-outfielder-1930s-stub