Henry Spearman
Henry Allen Spearman
(Little Splo, Jake, Swingtime)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 0", Weight 179 lb.
- Debut 1936
- Final Game 1945
- Born November 16, 1909 in Arkadelphia, AR USA
- Died June 1980 in Philadelphia, PA USA
Biographical Information[edit]
Henry Spearman was a Negro League third baseman for a decade. His older brother Clyde Spearman also played in the Negro Leagues.
Henry debuted in 1936 and hit a solid .350 as the starting third baseman for the Homestead Grays. He hit .329 for the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1937 and .340 for the 1938 Washington Black Senators. In 1939, he fell to .263 for Washington. He hit .276 and slugged .284 for Cienfuegos in 1939-1940, a teammate of his brother's for the first time.
Spearman hit .256 for the New York Black Yankees in 1940. He went 18 for 36 with 4 doubles and two homers in the 1940-1941 California Winter League to lead in both average and doubles; had Lou Novikoff qualified, his .545 would have given him the lead. Henry's 1941 statistics are wildly in dispute - on one page of The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues, he is listed as .400, second in the Negro National League behind Bill Hoskins - and on another page, he is listed down at .249!
The Arkansas native hit .344 for the 1942 Philadelphia Stars, 5th in the NNL behind Larry Doby, Goose Curry, Willie Wells and Josh Gibson - three of the four players ahead of him would be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Little Splo was at .268 in 1943. In 1944, his brother Clyde joined him in Philadelphia and they were teammates in the US for the first time. Henry hit .356, tying Rev Cannady for 5th in the NNL. Both Spearman brothers rode the pine for the Stars in 1945, ending Henry's career.
Notable Achievements[edit]
- NNL Triples Leader (1939)
Sources[edit]
- The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
- The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley
- The California Winter League by William McNeil
- Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo
We're Social...for Statheads
Every Sports Reference Social Media Account
Site Last Updated:
Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction?
Subscribe to our Free Email Newsletter
Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE
Your All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database
Do you have a sports website? Or write about sports? We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Find out more.