Al Smith (baseball outfielder)
Encyclopedia
Alphonse Eugene Smith (February 7, 1928 - January 3, 2002) was a left fielder
/third baseman
in Major League Baseball
. From 1953 through 1964, he played for the Cleveland Indians
(1953–1957, 1964), Chicago White Sox
(1958–1962), Baltimore Orioles
(1963) and Boston Red Sox
(1964).
. As a high school star in St. Louis
, Smith scored ten touchdown
s in an American football
game and was a Golden Gloves
boxing
champion.
with 167 home run
s and 676 RBI
in 1517 games played
. A good, selective hitter, he compiled a .407 on base percentage
in 1955, his best season.
Smith started his baseball career in the Negro Leagues
in 1947, joined the Cleveland Indians in 1949, and began his major league career with Cleveland in 1953. Along with his outstanding defense in left-field, he earned two All-Star Game selections, but is best remembered as the focal point of one of the most famous baseball photograph
s (see White Sox, below)
record 111 games. Batting from the leadoff
spot, he responded with a .281 average, 101 runs
, 186 hits
, 11 home runs and 59 RBI, helping his team to face the New York Giants
in the 1954 World Series
, where he led off the series with a home run. In 1955 he led the American League in runs scored (123), while hitting .306 with 22 home runs and 77 RBI, and also received his first All-Star selection.
to the Chicago White Sox for Minnie Miñoso and Fred Hatfield
, in a deal that was very unpopular among Chicago fans (Miñoso was "their guy"). He slumped in his first year with the White Sox to the point that eccentric owner Bill Veeck
held an Al Smith Night to honor his outfielder. Anyone named Smith, Smythe, Schmidt, or Smithe was admitted free and given a button that said, "I'm a Smith and I'm for Al." On his big night, Smith hit into two double play
s and dropped a fly ball that led to the Boston Red Sox
;s winning run. (Comiskey Park, August 26, 1959).
Smith would contribute enough to help his team win the American League pennant, its first in 40 years, en route to the 1959 World Series
. It was during this series that Smith would enter baseball journalism history. In Game Two at Comiskey Park
, Smith retreated to the left field wall in pursuit of a long drive hit by Charlie Neal
of the Los Angeles Dodgers
. As Smith watched the ball sail into the stands for a home run, a fan accidentally knocked over a cup of beer that was resting on top of the fence, dousing Smith's head and face. Smith estimated that he signed photographs depicting that moment at least 200,000 times. The photograph was taken by AP
Chicago Tribune staff photographer John Raymond Gora, who died in 2003.
Finally, Smith won some respect of the fans over by hitting .315 in 1960 and slugging 28 home runs in 1961, both career-highs, as he made his second All-Star appearance in 1960.
in the same transaction that brought Hoyt Wilhelm
, Dave Nicholson
, Pete Ward
and Ron Hansen
to the White Sox. His last major league season was in 1964, when he divided his playing time between Cleveland and the Boston Red Sox.
. He died in 2002, at the age of 73 in Hammond, Indiana
.
In his 2010 Gold Mine, Bill James
compared Smith to contemporary player Melvin Mora
, and wondered if Smith was still well-known enough to warrant a Wikipedia
page. (Smith's page was created in 2006.)
Left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...
/third baseman
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball 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 Major League Baseball
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...
. From 1953 through 1964, he played for the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
(1953–1957, 1964), Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
(1958–1962), Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
(1963) and Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
(1964).
Biography
Smith was born in Kirkwood, MissouriKirkwood, Missouri
Kirkwood is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,540. Founded in 1853, the city is named for James Pugh Kirkwood, builder of the Pacific Railroad through that town. It was the first planned suburb located west...
. As a high school star in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Smith scored ten touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s in an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game and was a Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States. The Golden Gloves is often the term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but it also can represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves...
boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
champion.
Career
In a 12-season career, Smith posted a .272 batting averageBatting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
with 167 home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s and 676 RBI
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
in 1517 games played
Games played
Games played is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated ; the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.-Baseball:In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game,...
. A good, selective hitter, he compiled a .407 on base percentage
On base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage is a measure of how often a batter reaches base for any reason other than a fielding error, fielder's choice, dropped/uncaught third strike, fielder's obstruction, or catcher's interference In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) (sometimes...
in 1955, his best season.
Smith started his baseball career in the Negro Leagues
Negro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...
in 1947, joined the Cleveland Indians in 1949, and began his major league career with Cleveland in 1953. Along with his outstanding defense in left-field, he earned two All-Star Game selections, but is best remembered as the focal point of one of the most famous baseball photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s (see White Sox, below)
Indians
An everyday player in 1954, Smith was a member of the Indians team that won a then-American LeagueAmerican League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
record 111 games. Batting from the leadoff
At bat
In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...
spot, he responded with a .281 average, 101 runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
, 186 hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
, 11 home runs and 59 RBI, helping his team to face the New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
in the 1954 World Series
1954 World Series
The 1954 World Series matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants swept the Series in four games to win their first championship since , defeating the heavily favored Indians, who had won an AL-record 111 games in the...
, where he led off the series with a home run. In 1955 he led the American League in runs scored (123), while hitting .306 with 22 home runs and 77 RBI, and also received his first All-Star selection.
White Sox
In December 1957, Smith was traded by Cleveland along with Early WynnEarly Wynn
Early Wynn Jr. , nicknamed "Gus", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 25-year baseball career, he pitched for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox...
to the Chicago White Sox for Minnie Miñoso and Fred Hatfield
Fred Hatfield
Fred James Hatfield , nicknamed "Scrap Iron", was a Major League Baseball infielder who played 9 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Boston Red Sox , Detroit Tigers , Chicago White Sox , Cleveland Indians , and Cincinnati Redlegs .Born in Lanett, Alabama, Hatfield signed by the Boston Red Sox as an...
, in a deal that was very unpopular among Chicago fans (Miñoso was "their guy"). He slumped in his first year with the White Sox to the point that eccentric owner Bill Veeck
Bill Veeck
William Louis Veeck, Jr. , also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was a native of Chicago, Illinois, and a franchise owner and promoter in Major League Baseball. He was best known for his publicity stunts to raise attendance. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis...
held an Al Smith Night to honor his outfielder. Anyone named Smith, Smythe, Schmidt, or Smithe was admitted free and given a button that said, "I'm a Smith and I'm for Al." On his big night, Smith hit into two double play
Double play
In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....
s and dropped a fly ball that led to the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
;s winning run. (Comiskey Park, August 26, 1959).
Smith would contribute enough to help his team win the American League pennant, its first in 40 years, en route to the 1959 World Series
1959 World Series
The 1959 World Series featured the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers beating the American League champion Chicago White Sox, four games to two. It was the first pennant for the White Sox in 40 years . They would have to wait until 2005 to win another championship...
. It was during this series that Smith would enter baseball journalism history. In Game Two at Comiskey Park
Comiskey Park
Comiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games...
, Smith retreated to the left field wall in pursuit of a long drive hit by Charlie Neal
Charlie Neal
Charles Lenard Neal was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball. He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1950, and won the 1959 World Series after the team moved to Los Angeles. He hit two home runs in Game 2 of the Series, at Chicago's Comiskey Park...
of the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
. As Smith watched the ball sail into the stands for a home run, a fan accidentally knocked over a cup of beer that was resting on top of the fence, dousing Smith's head and face. Smith estimated that he signed photographs depicting that moment at least 200,000 times. The photograph was taken by AP
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
Chicago Tribune staff photographer John Raymond Gora, who died in 2003.
Finally, Smith won some respect of the fans over by hitting .315 in 1960 and slugging 28 home runs in 1961, both career-highs, as he made his second All-Star appearance in 1960.
Final seasons
Before the 1963 season, Smith was sent to the Baltimore Orioles along with Luis AparicioLuis Aparicio
Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel is a former shortstop in professional baseball. His career in Major League Baseball spanned three decades, from through . Aparicio played for the Chicago White Sox , Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox . He batted and threw right-handed...
in the same transaction that brought Hoyt Wilhelm
Hoyt Wilhelm
James Hoyt Wilhelm was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985....
, Dave Nicholson
Dave Nicholson
David Lawrence Nicholson is a former outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles , Chicago White Sox , Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves , known for his towering, although infrequent, home runs...
, Pete Ward
Pete Ward
Peter Thomas Ward is a retired professional baseball player who played 9 seasons for the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, and New York Yankees of Major League Baseball...
and Ron Hansen
Ron Hansen (baseball)
Ronald Lavern Hansen is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for the Baltimore Orioles , Chicago White Sox , Washington Senators , New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals...
to the White Sox. His last major league season was in 1964, when he divided his playing time between Cleveland and the Boston Red Sox.
Post-playing career
Following his baseball career, he became a supervisor of parks in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He died in 2002, at the age of 73 in Hammond, Indiana
Hammond, Indiana
Hammond is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 80,830 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hammond is located at ....
.
In his 2010 Gold Mine, Bill James
Bill James
George William “Bill” James is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics...
compared Smith to contemporary player Melvin Mora
Melvin Mora
Melvin Mora , affectionately nicknamed Melmo or Melvy, is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder who is a free agent...
, and wondered if Smith was still well-known enough to warrant a Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
page. (Smith's page was created in 2006.)