J C Hartman (born April 15, 1934) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

who appeared in 90

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

over parts of two seasons, and , for the

Houston Colt .45s The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

. He also played in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

for the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

in , when they were a barnstorming team. He was nicknamed "Cool" and "The Spider", the latter because of his arms and legs, which extended to prodigious lengths when he ranged after ground balls. The , Hartman, a native of

Cottonton, Alabama Cottonton is an unincorporated community in Russell County, Alabama, United States. Geography Cottonton is located in southeastern Russell County along the Chattahoochee River, which is also the Georgia state line, at 32° 8′ 49″ N, 85° 4 ...

, threw and batted right-handed. Hartman's career in minor league baseball began in 1959 at the Double-A level in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

' system. He played for the Triple-A

Houston Buffs Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

in 1961 and was acquired by the

expansion Expansion may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''L'Expansion'', a French monthly business magazine * ''Expansion'' (album), by American jazz pianist Dave Burrell, released in 2004 * ''Expansions'' (McCoy Tyner album), 1970 * ''Expansio ...

Colt .45s that winter before their maiden

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

season. Recalled from Triple-A in midseason 1962, he backed up regular Colt .45 shortstop

Bob Lillis Robert Perry Lillis (born June 2, 1930) is an American former infielder, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball (MLB). Lillis was an original member of the expansion Houston Colt .45s who remained with the club (renamed the Astros ...

, starting in 42 games through the end of the year and hitting .223. He then began 1963 on the Houston roster and appeared in 39 total games, 21 as a starting shortstop, before returning to the minors, where he played through 1967. As a big leaguer, he collected 44 hits, including six doubles, and eight

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. After baseball, Hartman began what would be an historic and trail blazing career with

Houston Police Department The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fifth-largest ...

. In 1974, he became the very first African American supervisor in HPD history. Hartman was recently awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by HPD. Before baseball Hartman was in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

where he served as a Paratrooper.

External links

1934 births Living people 21st-century African-American people African-American baseball players Amarillo Sonics players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Baseball players from Alabama Denver Bears players Hawaii Islanders players Houston Buffs players Houston Colt .45s players Kansas City Monarchs players Magic Valley Cowboys players Major League Baseball shortstops Oklahoma City 89ers players People from Russell County, Alabama San Antonio Bullets players San Antonio Missions players Tiburones de La Guaira players {{baseball-shortstop-stub