Albertus A. Fennar
Nickname: Al, Cleffie
Career: 1931-1946
Positions: 2b, 3b, ss
Teams: Harlem Stars (1931), New York Black Yankees (1932), Brooklyn Royal Giants (1932-1933), Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (1934), Cuban Stars (1934), Pennsylvania Red Caps (1934)
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 5' 8'' Weight: 170
Born: May 12, 1911, Wilmington, North Carolina
An infielder with teams along the Eastern Seaboard during the early 1930s, he was fast on the bases and sometimes batted leadoff. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in New York City, he signed with the Harlem Stars, formerly known as the Lincoln Giants, in 1931. The next season Bill "Bojangles” Robinson bought the team and renamed them the Black Yankees. That season the team wore the New York Yankees' old set of uniforms, and the pair of pants that fit Fennar belonged to Lou Gehrig. Later in the year he joined the Brooklyn Royal Giants, and he appeared briefly with other teams, but most of the sixteen seasons that he played baseball were spent with industrial teams rather than league teams.
His unusual nickname resulted from his family's musical connections. Both his father and older brother were musicians, and on the night he was born the pair were playing at the Cleff Club in New York City.
Baseball Career Highlights:
"I played in two All Star games. In high school, I was on the All New York City team as a third baseman. And I was always the lead-off batter."
Professional/Personal Accomplishments:
Fennar retired from Con Edison after 25 years. He played semi-pro baseball for five years and coached little league baseball for 10 years. Fennar said, "My nickname stems from my father and brother, who were musicians and played with a band called the 'Clef Club.' I was born the night the Clef Club performed at Carnegie Hall."
Sources:
NLBM Legacy 2000 Players' Reunion Alumni Book, Kansas City Missouri: Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Inc., 2000.
James A. Riley, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1994.