There
is no dispute that Alvin “Al” Spearman was born August 26 in Chicago,
Illinois. However, where most records
show 1931 as the year, some conflicting information says 1926. Spearman cut his baseball teeth in the
semi-professional Chicago industrial leagues before joining the Chicago
American Giants of the Negro American League (NAL) after the 1949 season.
Physically
at 6’1” and 185 pounds, he was a right handed pitcher that threw side
armed. Unlike some of the best Negro
League hurlers, Spearman did not have a blazing fast ball to overpower and
strikeout batters. Instead, his best
pitch was a sinkerball. When he threw it
with excellent control he was a good pitcher as opponents would hit the ball on
the ground to his infielders and be thrown out.
During
his time with American Giants, 1950 and 1951, Spearman also briefly played with
the Kansas City Monarchs. In Spearman’s
short stay with the team, Elston Howard of future New York Yankee fame was his
roommate.
The
Chicago White Sox signed Spearman after the 1951 season. He then encountered the obstacles faced by
many of the African American and dark skinned Latino players signed by Major
League teams in the 1950s. The pace of
integration was slow and most of the players signed were not steadily progressed
through the teams’ minor league systems.
In addition, although not formerly stated, there existed a specific
limit (quota) as to the number of them on each Major League roster. Feeling lost in the White Sox minor league
system, Spearman left after the 1954 season to play in Japan.
He
returned in 1956 and continued his career in the minor leagues. At the Class C level Spearman had his best
years winning 18 games in 1956 and 20 games in 1958. In 1960 he was signed by his hometown Chicago
Cubs Class AAA minor league team, the Houston Buffs. However, Spearman had confrontations with the
team management in which he felt had racial overtones. In addition, he had to encounter “Jim Crow”
racial discrimination laws while in Houston.
Before the season ended, Spearman left the team and did not return to
playing professional baseball.
What three other former Negro League
players were on the 1959 Houston Buff’s team with Al Spearman?
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