Harry Spies

Henry Spies

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11½", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut April 20, 1895
• Final Game September 29, 1895
• Born June 12, 1866 in New Orleans, LA USA
• Died July 7, 1942 in Los Angeles, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Harry Spies played only one season in the big leagues, 1895, but he had a long minor league career.

In his one season in the majors he split his time between the Cincinnati Reds and the Louisville Colonels. He was mostly a catcher with Cincinnati and mostly a first baseman with Louisville.

The book The Heavenly Twins of Baseball recounts a time when Tommy McCarthy was in a bad mood about a strike that an umpire had called, and after getting a hit and rounding the bases he pushed and slugged Spies. Spies chased after McCarthy, caught him around third base and returned the punch. Both players were kicked out of the game. Although Spies was a major league rookie at the time and McCarthy was nearing the end of his major league career, the two were less than three years apart in age.

Harry moved around a great deal in his baseball career. Although born in the South in New Orleans, LA, in 1889 and 1890 he was playing up in Hamilton, ON. He then spent 1891 to 1893 playing for teams in California and 1894 playing in Grand Rapids, MI. After his big league season he spent 1896 to 1900 playing up North for St. Paul and Milwaukee (with part of a season in 1900 with Cleveland), and then was back in California for most of 1901 to 1906 (he spent part of 1902 with Louisville). In 1907 he was in the Midwest with Sioux City.

In 2004 the New York Times (7/23/04) reported on a couple of players with Provo who each had six hits in a game. The article noted that no duo of minor leaguers had done that since Harry Spies and Tom Turner in 1896 in a game which St. Paul won 41-8 over Minneapolis.