Biography
Willie Spearman was one of fourteen children born to Iverson Spearman and Fannie (nee Phifer) Spearman.5 He was raised in Arkadelphia, AR and likely began his baseball career with local teams including the 1917 Arkadelphia High Steppers,6 1921 Vapor City Tigers7 , 1922 Little Rock A.B.C.s.,8 and Hot Springs in 1923.9 His first engagement in Negro major league baseball came in July 1923 when he was picked up from Hot Springs by the Memphis Red Sox.10 He continued to play with the Red Sox through 1925. The following year, he joined the Cleveland Elites11 and finished the season with Pete Hill's Colored Stars of Buffalo, NY.12 He returned in 1927 with the Cleveland Hornets13 14 and the Nashville Elite Giants.15 Spearman's last known activity was with Nashville in 1929.16 17
On December 28th, 1937, Spearman began suffering from a profuse nosebleed caused by a ruptured heart auricle. He died the next day, December 29th, at Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis, MO.18 He was buried in Washington Park Cemetery in St. Louis.
Stats
Statistics at Baseball-Reference.com.
Statistics at Seamheads.com.
4
Spearman's Missouri Death Certificate gives his birth date December 31st, 1910. However, Spearman was listed as 5 months old in the 1900 U.S. Census, suggesting that he was actually born in 1899.
7
Chicago Defender, 1/22/1921
9
Memphis Commercial Appeal, 7/3/1923, p.17
10
Memphis Commercial Appeal, 7/21/1923, p.12;