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IN THE 1800s AND INTO THE FIRST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, AFRICAN-AMERICAN BASEBALL TEAMS PLAYED SEPARATELY FROM WHITE TEAMS. THE COMMUNITY OF MINEOLA, THOUGH SMALL IN POPULATION, HAD BOTH WHITE AND BLACK BASEBALL TEAMS. THE MINEOLA BLACK SPIDERS WAS COMPOSED OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN AND YOUTH FROM THE TOWN. THE BALLPLAYERS WORE SOLID GRAY UNIFORMS AND PLAYED AT EPPERSON PARK IN SOUTH MINEOLA, IN ADDITION TO TRAVELING TO GAMES IN DALLAS, COMMERCE, SHREVEPORT (LOUISIANA), AND OTHER PLACES. HOME GAMES SOMETIMES ATTRACTED AROUND 200 SPECTATORS. VERNON KLINGAMAN, WHO MOVED TO TEXAS IN THE LATE 1920s, SETTLING IN MINEOLA, SOON BECAME INVOLVED WITH THE TEAM. HE EXPANDED THE ROSTER, OPENING IT TO NON-RESIDENTS, AND CHANGED THE NAME TO THE TEXAS BLACK SPIDERS. IN 1932, THE PLAYERS DEPARTED MINEOLA FOR THE MIDWEST, BECOMING A BARNSTORMING TEAM, STAGING EXHIBITION GAMES IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS. THAT YEAR, THE TEAM UNDERWENT A NAME CHANGE, BECOMING THE MASON CITY BLACK BATS. THEY HEADQUARTERED IN IOWA, THOUGH MOST MEMBERS WOULD RETURN TO THE SPIDERS’ SQUAD, WHILE OTHERS MOVED BACK TO TEXAS. THE BLACK SPIDERS GAINED A REPUTATION AS BEING ONE OF THE FASTEST TEAMS FROM THE SOUTH. THEY WERE ALSO VERY SUCCESSFUL; IN 1936, THE SPIDERS’ RECORD WAS 34-1. HOWEVER, BY 1937, THERE WAS A SUBSTANTIAL TURNOVER IN TEAM PERSONNEL. THE BLACK SPIDERS FIELDED A TEAM IN 1938, BUT DISBANDED AFTERWARD. TODAY, THE TEAM IS MOSTLY FORGOTTEN IN MINEOLA. HOWEVER, THE BLACK SPIDERS REMAIN A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE COMMUNITY’S HISTORY AS A BLACK BASEBALL TEAM THAT BECAME A SUCCESS LOCALLY AND IN THE MIDWESTERN UNITED STATES. |
