Floyd Vernie Speer was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

. He was born on January 27, 1913, in Booneville, Arkansas

Booneville, Arkansas

Booneville is a city in Logan County, Arkansas, United States, and the county seat of its southern district. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 4,082....

. He attended Booneville High School, where he starred in baseball. His twin brother, Bernie Loyd Speer, was often his catcher.

Floyd began his professional baseball career in 1938 in the now-defunct Cotton States League

Cotton States League

The Cotton States League name was used five different times in baseball history. The first Cotton States League ran from 1902 through 1908 as a class D league. After the league shut down, another Cotton States League was reformulated in 1910, with three of the six '08 members returning for the new...

. He moved to play for Shreveport in the Texas League

Texas League

The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...

 in 1941. At the age of 30, Speer broke into the big leagues

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 on April 25, 1943, with the Chicago White Sox. He played his last game with the Sox on May 3, 1944. He later played for other minor league teams, including the Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee Brewers (minor league baseball team)

The Milwaukee Brewers were a Minor League Baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They played in the American Association from 1902 through 1952.-A Milwaukee Tradition:...

 in 1945 and the Oakland Oaks

Oakland Oaks (PCL)

The Oakland Oaks were a minor league baseball team in Oakland, California that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 through 1955, after which the club transferred to Vancouver, British Columbia...

 in 1946-48.

Floyd Vernie Speer married Rosadell McConnell, who was also from Booneville, Arkansas

Booneville, Arkansas

Booneville is a city in Logan County, Arkansas, United States, and the county seat of its southern district. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 4,082....

.

Speer returned to Arkansas where he died in Little Rock

Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...

 on March 22, 1969. He was 56 years old. Speers was returned to his hometown of Booneville, where he was buried in the Carolan

Carolan, Arkansas

Carolan is an unincorporated community in Logan County, Arkansas, United States. It lies five miles to the southwest of Booneville on State Highway 23. It is named for William Philip Carolan, early farmer and merchant in the area. He was born on April 16, 1800 in South Carolina. He was married...

 Community Cemetery, 5 miles outside of town.

Sources