A colorized photo of Spottswood Poles, taken about the time he was a member of the Harrisburg Colored Giants (1906-1908), that frequently played games against white teams, including in the Lykens Valley. Poles went on to have a professional career that included playing with Negro League teams in Philadelphia and New York.
His full career is documented in the book, Forgotten Heroes: Spottswood Poles, by Dr. Layton Ravel and Luis Munoz, published in 2013, available as a free download.
At the time of the writing of this blog post, only limited statistical information about his professional baseball career is available at Baseball Reference.
Spottswood Poles, was born on December 27, 1887 in Winchester, Virginia. He died on September 12, 1962, in Harrisburg. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. See: Findagrave.
In 2007, Spottswood Poles was inducted into the Capital [Harrisburg] Area Hall of Fame.
A photograph of the Harrisburg Colored Giants team from one of the years Poles played on it. He is in the front row, second from right. Source: Capital [Harrisburg] Area Hall of Fame.
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