Spottswood Poles (December 27, 1887 – September 12, 1962) was an American

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 catch ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

. One of the fastest players of his era, Poles was sometimes referred to as "the black

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American professional baseball center fielder. A native of rural Narrows, Georgia, Cobb played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent ...

Career

According to Negro leagues historian James Riley, Poles' speed was said to be comparable to that of

Cool Papa Bell James Thomas "Cool Papa" Bell (May 17, 1903 – March 7, 1991) was an American center fielder and pitcher in Negro league baseball and the Mexican League from 1922 to 1946. He is considered to have been one of the fastest men ever to play the ga ...

, a Negro league star of the 1930s generally considered to be the fastest man in the history of organized baseball. Poles was a left-handed batter with a keen eye who hit for a high

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 ...

Poles started playing organized Negro ball for the

Harrisburg Giants The Harrisburg Giants were a U.S. professional Negro league baseball team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. History Originally formed in April 1890 by Colonel William "C.W." Strothers as an amateur team, they became s ...

in 1906 and first became a professional for

Sol White King Solomon White (June 12, 1868 – August 26, 1955) was an American professional baseball infielder, manager (baseball), manager and executive, and one of the pioneers of the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues. An active sportswriter for m ...

Philadelphia Giants The Philadelphia Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1902 to 1911. From 1904 to 1909 they were one of the strongest teams in black baseball, winning five eastern championships in six years. The team was organized by Sol Whi ...

in 1909. Poles soon followed White to the New York

Lincoln Giants The New York Lincoln Giants were a Negro league baseball team based in New York City from 1911 through 1930. Founding The Lincoln Giants can trace their origins back to the Nebraska Indians, of Lincoln, Nebraska, from the 1890s. According t ...

in 1911, where he blossomed into a star; in his first four seasons with the Lincoln Giants, 1911–1914, Poles attained batting averages of .440, .398, .414, and .487 against all levels of competition. Poles then spent the next few seasons jumping among the New York

Lincoln Stars The Lincoln Stars are a Tier I junior ice hockey team playing in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Stars' home ice is the Ice Box on the former Nebraska State Fair grounds and adjacent to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Histo ...

Brooklyn Royal Giants The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926), owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initiall ...

, and Hilldale Daisies. While with the Daisies, Poles joined the 369th Infantry Regiment (Harlem Hellfighters), a unit attached to the French Army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, earning decorations (five battle stars and a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

) for his combat experience in France as a sergeant. He returned home and continued a successful baseball career, playing for the Lincoln Giants from 1919 to 1923. Following his playing career, Poles was hired multiple times to coach the Harrisburg Giants, once in 1928 and again in 1953. Poles is credited with a lifetime batting average of over .400 in all competitions and hit .319 in four winters in Cuba. A tantalizing aspect of his career is his success against white major league teams; Poles hit .610 against these teams, including three consecutive hits against

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Grover Cleveland Alexander Grover Cleveland Alexander (February 26, 1887 – November 4, 1950), nicknamed "Old Pete" and "Alexander the Great", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played from 1911 through 1930 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, an ...

. After retiring from baseball, Poles first worked as a taxi cab operator and then found employment at

Olmsted Air Force Base Harrisburg Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, located at Harrisburg International Airport, Pennsylvania. It is located west-southwest of Middletown, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Air National Guard facility is sit ...

Middletown, Pennsylvania Middletown is the name of more than one location in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania: *Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania of the Harrisburg metropolitan area, zip code 17057 **Middletown (Amtrak station) *Middletown, Northampton County, Pennsyl ...

, which enabled him to retire and live comfortably until his death at the age of 74. Because of his Army service, he was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poles, Spot 1887 births 1962 deaths Baseball outfielders Philadelphia Giants players Club Fé players New York Lincoln Giants players Hilldale Club players New York Lincoln Stars players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba Baseball players from Virginia African Americans in World War I United States Army personnel of World War I People from Winchester, Virginia Burials at Arlington National Cemetery African-American United States Army personnel