Spencer’s testimony resulted in a favorable sentence for Colavito. Call in to testify on the matter by American League president Lee MacPhail, Spencer explained what he saw: That the umpire had baited and antagonized Colavito. During a recent game between the White Sox and Indians, Colavito had been accused of bumping one of the umpires. That same summer, Spencer impressed players on both the White Sox and their opponents by his willingness to take a stand for Cleveland Indians coach Rocky Colavito. In 1976, only two White Sox reached double figures in home runs: Spencer and Jorge Orta. Spencer proved a good fit for the White Sox, a team that needed power. In May, the Angels decided to move in a different direction: trading Spencer to the Texas Rangers for slugging first baseman Mike Epstein. But once the regular season started, Spencer showed little power. Instead, he decided to report to winter ball in the Dominican Republic, where he played for future Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda.īy the time Spencer reported to Spring Training in 1973, he had lost 10 pounds and strengthened his bad knee. By the end of the season, Spencer was so dissatisfied with his manager, Del Rice, that he considered retirement.
He eventually lost his first base job to slugging Bob Oliver. In 1972, an injured knee suffered in a home plate collision curtailed Spencer’s progress. In 1971, he clubbed 18 home runs and drew 48 walks. In 1970, he won the American league Gold Glove Award. Over each of the next two seasons, Spencer continued to defend his position with poise and style while improving his power and his patience.
254 and walked only occasionally, but did flash some power (10 home runs). 191 in 73 plate appearances and did not hit a home run.ĭissatisfied with the play of the aging Stuart, the Angels brought Spencer back to California and made him their regular first baseman. Appearing in 19 games down the stretch, he hit just. With the bat, Spencer’s game showed a need for improvement. “He’s the best defensive first baseman we’ve had since Vic Power.” “I like what I’ve seen,” Rigney told the Sporting News. Spencer made a good first impression on his manager, Bill Rigney. Allowing him to bypass Triple-A, the Angels brought him to Anaheim in September of ’68. He was also a player who hustled and played the game in a fundamentally sound way. By the middle of ’68, he was dominating the Texas League, with 20 home runs and a. Spencer remained at El Paso for the next year and a half he improved in 1967, and improved some more in ’68. Settling down as a sophomore, Spencer showed patience, made better contact, and belted 16 home runs. In 1966, they bumped him up to Double-A El Paso of the Texas League. The Angels refused to let those numbers fool them. 223 with two home runs for Quad Cities, a Class A team in the Midwest League. With that big waist and those short, lean arms, Spencer provided the visual antithesis to more athletic-looking players like Dave Winfield and Derek Jeter, who became Yankee stars in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively.Īs a 17-year-old rookie, Spencer was overwhelmed by his first taste of minor league pitching. He fielded his position with smoothness and rhythm, despite having that non-athletic build. A two-time Gold Glove Award winner, he was an excellent first baseman with soft hands and an ability to pick throws out of the dirt. Yet, in the 1970s, Spencer was a pretty fair country ballplayer for the Yankees, Chicago White Sox and a couple of other teams. In the modern game, most teams carry 12 or 13 pitchers, leaving little room on their bench for platoon first basemen and pinch-hitting specialists. Fair or unfair, he always dealt with the familiar rap: “He can’t hit left-handed pitching.” As a platoon player, Spencer might have struggled to stick with a major league team today. For the most part, he was a platoon player only once did he appear in as many as 150 games in a season. Spencer is a player who has become somewhat forgotten since retirement, unless you’re old enough to have seen him play.