Many Negro League experts say that Spottswood Poles was one of the greatest outfielders to have ever played the game. The 5'7" 165 pounds Poles a bowlegged switch hitting outfielder played in an era from which most Negro League statistics are lost but an indication of his greatness was his nickname "The Black Ty Cobb".

He broke into professional black baseball as the center fielder and lead off hitter for the powerful 1909 Philadelphia Giants.  He moved on the New York Lincoln Giants in 1911 where he batted .440 for the season and stole 41 bases in only 60 games.  He hit .398 in 1912 .414 in 1913 and .487 in 1914.  With the Lincoln club in the 10 game 1915 black championship Poles batted only .205 but because of his speed and base running ability scored 11 runs. In a 15 year Negro League career Poles is credited with a .400 lifetime batting average and a .319 average for the four winter seasons he spent in Cuba.  He is also credited with a .610 batting average in exhibition games against major league competition many of which took place while Poles was in Cuba.

Poles enlisted in the 369th Infantry United States Army in 1917 at the age of thirty and earned five battle stars and a Purple Heart while fighting in France. He resumed his baseball career following the war but tired of the constant travel that was part of the Negro League player's life he retired in 1923. 

This mid-1920’s mounted 8"x10" image of the Harrisburg Giants  features the team in full uniform posed on steps of a local general store. Players are positioned in three rows including their famous coach Spottswood Poles in the bottom row second from right. The photo remains very clean with excellent original contrast and has a small chip at the bottom right corner. Mount has some typical age wear including a chip at top edge and some staining on back . Negro League team photographs from this era are extraordinarily rare with the offered example possessing great content and character. Full dimension of mount are 14” by 12”.