Mineola Black Spiders

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The Mineola Black Spiders baseball team barnstormed throughout the Midwest in the 1930's. Newspaper articles from San Antonio and Van Zandt County indicate that the team continued to play in Texas as late as 1940.

Generally an all black barnstorming baseball team, they trace their origin to Mineola, Texas where Vern "V.A" Klingaman formed the team. They first traveled in 1932 and continued to travel until at least 1938.

Noted in newspapers in the Midwest as the Texas Black Spiders, they were also often noted with the title "Champions of Texas." The team set out for the Midwest in a black school bus with the team's name on the side. The bus had no windows and featured a cobweb on the back.

The club traveled extensively, arriving in Iowa in July of 1932. The players generally played for a percentage of the gate. By the end of July, a dispute arose over player payments and ten players voted to leave the team. The players were purchased by the managers of the semi-pro Mason City (Iowa) Bats. Vern returned to Mineola with the remaining players. The players that remained in Iowa played as the [[[Mason City Black Bats]]][1].

The Bats played against top barnstorming teams including the Western House of David, Nebraska Indians, John Donaldson's All-Stars and the Kansas City Monarchs. J.B. Griffin became the team's featured pitcher and ace in 1932.

After the 1932 season ended, most of the players returned to Texas. Two players tried out for the 1933 semi-pro Mason City Bats but were cut when the Bats joined the Southern Minnesota - Iowa League where all players were welcome as long as they were not black. Otherwise, many of the same players rejoined the Black Spiders.

The 1933 Spiders again traveled north and spent much of July playing games throughout Iowa and venturing into Minnesota. In 1934, they returned to Iowa in early May and appear to have been headquartered in northern Iowa during much of the summer. Featured pitchers early in the summer included Lonnie Arthur and Speedball Benson. Both were noted as departing the team in about mid-July with Arthur's destination as yet unknown and Benson signing with Corwith, Iowa.

In 1935, the Spiders added a female pitcher to the mix in the form of Baby Tilliford. She would start the game and pitch an inning or two before giving way to another pitcher. Speedball Benson was once again a featured pitcher for the Spiders.

The Spiders continued to travel into the Midwest into 1937.