Jan. 15--Former Negro League player and minor league legend Alvin Spearman, a Chicago native who helped promote the White Sox's Double Duty Day event, passed away.
The White Sox confirmed the recent passing of Spearman, 84, who threw 28 complete games while posting a 20-9 record for Stockton in the California League in 1958.
Spearman played in the Negro Leagues from 1949 to 1951, which including a stint with the Chicago American Giants, before playing for Lewiston of the Western International League in 1952.
"When I was playing, the country was divided, everything was either Negro or white," Spearman told ESPN in 2011. "Drinking fountains, restaurants, rest rooms, you name it. In organized baseball, there was a gentleman's agreement not to allow blacks.
"It wasn't a matter of ability, it was a matter of color."
Spearman spent the 1955 season for Hankyu of the Japan Pacific League before returning to the United States the following season and concluding his minor league career with Houston of the Triple-A American Association in 1959.
Spearman spoke with players from the Sox's successful ACE (Amateur City Elite) program during several Double Duty Classics at U.S. Cellular Field and participated in the Sox's Negro League celebrations over the past years.
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