Gene Smith (pitcher)
| Gene Smith | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: April 23, 1916 Ansley, Louisiana | |
| Died: May 25, 2011 (aged 95) Richmond Heights, Missouri | |
Batted: Both Threw: Right | |
| Negro league baseball debut | |
| 1940, for the New Orleans–St. Louis Stars | |
| Last appearance | |
| 1948, for the Cleveland Buckeyes | |
| Teams | |
|
Eugene F. Smith (April 23, 1916 – May 25, 2011) was an American pitcher who played for several Negro league baseball teams between 1938 and 1951. Listed at 6' 1", 185 lb., Smith was a switch hitter and threw right-handed. Smith was known as a hard-throwing pitcher during a solid career that saw him play for nine different Negro league clubs. In addition, he pitched for teams in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Minor League Baseball, taking a three-year break to serve in the US Army during World War II (1943–1945).[1][2]
Early life
He was born in Ansley, Louisiana. His younger brother, Quincy Smith, also played in the Negro leagues.[3]
Negro league career
Smith entered the Negro leagues in 1938 with the Atlanta Black Crackers, playing for them one year before joining the Ethiopian Clowns (1939), New Orleans-St. Louis Stars (1940–1941), Kansas City Monarchs (1941) and New York Black Yankees (1942). Following military discharge, he played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1946), Homestead Grays (1946–1947), Cleveland Buckeyes (1946–1950) and Chicago American Giants (1951).[4]
In 1938, while pitching for the Black Crackers, Smith threw two no-hitters in one day, and in 1941 with the Stars hurled another against the Black Yankees. He also started Games 3 and 6 of the 1947 Negro World Series against the New York Cubans.[1][5]
Like many Negro leaguers, Gene Smith was never allowed in Major League Baseball. By the time Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, Smith was nearing the end of his own career, with an arm unable to cope with the demands of pitching due to assorted injuries.[5]
Minor leagues
Smith ended his career in 1953, dividing his playing time with the Statesboro Pilots of the Georgia State League and the Fond du Lac Panthers of the Wisconsin State League.[6]
Post-baseball life
Following his baseball career, Smith worked as a packer for National Lead Co., retiring in 1977. He also coached baseball for the Mathews-Dickey Boys' & Girls' Club. Then, in 1983 he gained induction into the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.[5]
In 1997, Smith and other Negro league veterans were honored during a St. Louis Cardinals home game for their work in paving the way for Robinson to make his jump from the Negro leagues to the Brooklyn Dodgers.[5]
Death
Smith was a long resident of Richmond Heights, Missouri, where he died at the age of 95, following a congestive heart failure.[5]
Sources
- ^ a b Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues.
- ^ Baseball in Wartime – Negro Leagues
- ^ The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues – James A. Riley. Publisher: Chelsea House, 1996. Format: Paperback, 124pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7910-2592-6.
- ^ Negro League Baseball Players Association website – Gene Smith entry Archived 2011-08-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e "Alt.Obituaries.com – Gene Smith, 95; pitched in Negro Leagues".
- ^ Baseball Reference Minor Leagues – Gene Smith career
External References
- Career statistics from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors) and Seamheads
- Find a Grave Bio
- 1916 births
- 2011 deaths
- Atlanta Black Crackers players
- Chicago American Giants players
- Cleveland Buckeyes players
- Homestead Grays players
- Kansas City Monarchs players
- New Orleans–St. Louis Stars players
- New York Black Yankees players
- Pittsburgh Crawfords players
- Ethiopian Clowns players
- Fond du Lac Panthers players
- Statesboro Pilots players
- African-American baseball players
- United States Army personnel of World War II
- Baseball players from Louisiana
- People from Jackson Parish, Louisiana
- 20th-century African-American sportspeople
- 21st-century African-American people