1928
Born February 7, 1928
Kirkwood, MO, USA
Al Smith Marquee
b. February 7, 1928 · Cleveland Buckeyes 1946–1948, Cleveland Indians 1953–1957, 1964, Chicago White Sox 1958–1962, Baltimore Orioles 1963, Boston Red Sox 1964
Al Smith played right field for the Cleveland Indians for five seasons before a trade to Chicago, and closed out his career with brief stops in Baltimore, Boston and back in Cleveland, retiring in 1964.
He batted .273 with 1,500 hits over 1,556 games, hitting 168 home runs and scoring 866 runs, with 687 walks showing real plate discipline across a twelve-season career.
His two All-Star selections came in 1955 and 1960, spanning both stops of his career with Cleveland and Chicago.
Smith came into the world in Kirkwood, Missouri on February 7, 1928 and batted and threw right-handed. He died on January 3, 2002, nearly four decades after his last game.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 2 | 1955, 1960 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | CBE | 4 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| 1947 | CBE | 19 | 69 | 10 | 22 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 1 | .319 |
| 1948 | CBE | 16 | 61 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1 | .262 |
| 1953 | CLE | 47 | 150 | 28 | 36 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 20 | 25 | 2 | .240 |
| 1954 | CLE | 131 | 481 | 101 | 135 | 29 | 6 | 11 | 50 | 88 | 65 | 2 | .281 |
| 1955 | CLE | 154 | 607 | 123 | 186 | 27 | 4 | 22 | 77 | 93 | 77 | 11 | .306 |
| 1956 | CLE | 141 | 526 | 87 | 144 | 26 | 5 | 16 | 71 | 84 | 72 | 6 | .274 |
| 1957 | CLE | 135 | 507 | 78 | 125 | 23 | 5 | 11 | 49 | 79 | 70 | 12 | .247 |
| 1958 | CHW | 139 | 480 | 61 | 121 | 23 | 5 | 12 | 58 | 48 | 77 | 3 | .252 |
| 1959 | CHW | 129 | 472 | 65 | 112 | 16 | 4 | 17 | 55 | 46 | 74 | 7 | .237 |
| 1960 | CHW | 142 | 536 | 80 | 169 | 31 | 3 | 12 | 72 | 50 | 65 | 8 | .315 |
| 1961 | CHW | 147 | 532 | 88 | 148 | 29 | 4 | 28 | 93 | 56 | 67 | 4 | .278 |
| 1962 | CHW | 142 | 511 | 62 | 149 | 23 | 8 | 16 | 82 | 57 | 60 | 3 | .292 |
| 1963 | BAL | 120 | 368 | 45 | 100 | 17 | 1 | 10 | 39 | 32 | 74 | 9 | .272 |
| 1964 | BOS/CLE | 90 | 187 | 25 | 33 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 21 | 42 | 0 | .176 |
| Career | — | 1556 | 5499 | 866 | 1500 | 263 | 51 | 168 | 701 | 687 | 769 | 70 | .273 |
On this day & linked events
2002
Died January 3, 2002
1953
Major-league debut: Al Smith
Al Smith made a major-league debut on July 10, 1953.
1964
Final major-league game: Al Smith
Al Smith played a final major-league game on October 4, 1964.
Image: Bowman, public domain