Roy Maxwell Alvis (born February 2, 1938) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from through , most notably for the Cleveland Indians, where he became a two-time All-Star. He played his final season with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Early life
Alvis was born on February 2, 1938, in Jasper, Texas, and graduated from Jasper High School (Jasper, Texas). He attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he played both football (under coaching legend Darrell Royal) and baseball, leading the Southwest Conference in batting average.
Professional career
Minor league
Alvis was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent in 1958. He played in Cleveland's minor league system from 1959 to 1962. In 1960, he had a .343 batting average for the Minot Mallards of the Class-C Northern League. In 1962, playing for the Triple-A Salt Lake City Bees of the Pacific Coast League, Alvis hit .319, with 25 home runs, 113 runs scored, 91 runs batted in (RBI), 35 doubles, 11 triples and a .921 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS).
On the downside, Alvis was error prone as a fielder. As a third basemen, he had 44 errors in 115 games in 1959, and 42 in 115 games in 1960. He improved somewhat with 24 errors in 115 games in 1961, and 39 in 150 games in 1962. He best minor league fielding percentage was .935.
Alvis became the everyday third baseman for the Indians in . He enjoyed single-season career-high numbers in batting average (.274), RBIs (67), runs (81), hits (165), doubles (32) and triples (7). He added 22 home runs (also a personal high), and appeared to be on his way to stardom. He was 17th in MVP voting. and a .942 fielding percentage, though he led the league's third basemen with 170 putouts. His condition improved with treatment within a day, but he was placed on the disabled list and Chico Salmon was called up to replace him. Before Alvis was hospitalized, Cleveland was 13 wins over .500; in his absence, the team's record was 11 wins and 25 losses.
Alvis was out for six weeks. He still hit 18 homers in only 381 at-bats, playing in only 107 games. His batting average fell to .252. Playing behind Brooks Robinson, Alvis only had one at bat in the All-Star game. In 1965, his fielding percentage rose again (.958), improving to 19 errors in 156 games (though still third worst in the AL), and again leading AL third basemen in putouts with 169. batting .245 and .256 respectively in those years. He led the league in putouts both years, with 180 and 169 respectively. 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. This was the Brewers first year in existence after moving from Seattle. As a backup in Milwaukee, he hit .183 with three homers in 62 games, being released at the end of the season. His grandson Sam Alvis pitched in the Miami Marlins minor league system from 2013-2015.