Spottswood Poles by Fredrico, Part Two

Spottswood Poles was decorated with five battle stars and a purple heart for his service to his country, and had enlisted during the prime of his career. He and his wife Bertha are both buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His nephew, Reid Poles, who currently lives in Middletown, PA, with his family, used to spend summer vacations with his aunt and uncle at their Harrisburg, PA home. Reid said that his aunt and uncle were so well suited for each other and were truly in love. Reid has also said that his uncle was more than an uncle to him, he was also his buddy and baseball mentor. Reid became a very fine ballplayer in his own right under the tutelage of his uncle, who would coach him when he played for the Harrisburg Giants in the early 1950s.

When Spottswood Poles playing days were over, he started a string of taxis in his hometown of Winchester, VA, and later would move back to Harrisburg and work at the Olmstead Air Force Base in Middletown. Unlike many of the hard luck stories of former ballplayers, he never wanted financially the rest of his life. He and his wife never had any children of their own and it seems that their nephew’s summer visits filled that space in their lives.

A story that Reid tells about his uncle shows what a competitor Spottswood Poles really was. He was coaching Reid’s team in a game where the winning team took 60 percent of the gate. It was late in the game and the score was tied and they really needed a hit. His uncle called time and put himself in to pinch hit. Reid was filled with angst since his uncle was well into his sixties and Reid wondered if they were about to be embarrassed. His worry was unfounded since his uncle drilled a screaming line drive through the hole between first and second for a clean hit. His uncle was puffing with gusto as he took himself out for a pinch-runner. To quote Reid, “We won that daggone game. I’ll never forget that.”

When I contacted former Harrisburg Patriot News Editor Saul Kohler in April of 1998 and asked him about Spottswood Poles who he had interviewed for an article that was printed in the paper in 1953, his first response was to say that Spottswood Poles was one of the finest gentleman he had ever met and that it would be an honor to have his name mentioned in the same article as Spottswood Poles. The mayor of Winchester, VA, between 1978-82, Elizabeth Glaize Helm told me she knew Spottswood and Bertha Poles when she was a young girl and has nothing but the fondest memories of them and had to respond to my open letter to the Winchester Star newspaper seeking to make contact with anyone who had known Spottswood Poles.