Ben Spencer

Lloyd Benjamin Spencer

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 160 lb.

• Debut September 8, 1913
• Final Game September 19, 1913
• Born May 15, 1890 in Patapsco, MD USA
• Died September 1, 1970 in Finksburg, MD USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Grandfather of Jim Spencer, Lloyd Benjamin "Ben" Spencer played eight games for the Washington Senators in 1913, hitting well. He played mostly left field, making only one error in the field. He got his chance due to an injury to Howie Shanks, the regular left fielder who returned the following year.

While the BR minor league database doesn't show any minor league games for him, it does show a long minor league career for a player named Ben Spencer (with birth and death details unknown). That Ben Spencer played mostly in the South, but had two years for a team in Maryland, so it could easily be this Ben Spencer. This is especially likely because Sporting Life of September 13, 1913 reported that the Senators' Spencer was a player from Petersburg, VA, and the minor league Spencer had been playing for the Petersburg Goobers in 1911-1913.

"SPENCER WAS THE HERO . . . Kiddo Spencer, just imported from the Virginia League, came to bat, bringing his nerve with him. He hit the first ball pitched and dumped it back of second, bringing Milan home with the winning run . . ." - from Sporting Life, September 20, 1913 issue

The SABR biography of Jim Spencer says that Ben also worked as a clerk in a pool room and a laborer in a paper mill. Ben lived to 1970, when grandson Jim was in his third year in the majors.

Related Sites

• Find-A-Grave Memorial for Ben Spencer