Roy Maxwell Alvis (born February 2, 1938) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. He played in

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), ...

as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

from through , most notably for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

where he became a two-time All-Star. He played his final season with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

Early life

Alvis was born in

Jasper, Texas Jasper is a city in and the county seat of Jasper County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,884 at the 2020 U.S. Census, down from 7,590 at the 2010 U.S. Census. Jasper is situated in the Deep East Texas subregion, about west of the Te ...

, and graduated from

Jasper High School (Jasper, Texas) Jasper High School is a public high school located in Jasper, Texas, classified as a 4A school by the University Interscholastic League. The school is part of the Jasper Independent School District and serves students in south and central Jasper ...

. He attended the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Professional career

Alvis was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent in 1958. He played his first major league game on September 11, 1962, with the Cleveland Indians. Alvis became the everyday third baseman for the Indians in . He enjoyed single-season career-high numbers in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(.274), RBI (67), runs (81),

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

(165), doubles (32) and triples (7). He added 22

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s (also a personal high), and appeared to be on his way to stardom, but a bout with

spinal meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or a ...

disabled him for six weeks in (a season in which he hit 18 homers in only 381

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s). Alvis made a remarkable comeback in , hitting 21 home runs, and was rewarded by being selected for the All-Star game, representing the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

. He turned in a solid 18 HR performance in and led the team with 21 in . His batting average fell to .223 as a full-time player in 1968, and he was relegated to spot duty with Cleveland in 1969, appearing in only 66 games. He was traded along with

Russ Snyder Russell Henry Snyder (born June 22, 1934) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the Kansas City Athletics (1959–60), Baltimore Orioles (1961–67), Chicago White Sox (1968), C ...

from the Indians to the Brewers for Roy Foster, Frank Coggins and cash during

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

on April 4, 1970."Indians Send Alvis, Snyder to Brewers," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Saturday, April 4, 1970.
Retrieved September 5, 2022. As a backup in Milwaukee, he hit .183 with three homers in 62 games, being released at the end of the season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvis, Max 1938 births Living people American League All-Stars Baseball players from Texas Cleveland Indians players Major League Baseball third basemen Milwaukee Brewers players Minot Mallards players People from Jasper, Texas Salt Lake City Bees players Selma Cloverleafs players Texas Longhorns baseball players