Clarence Melvin Smyres (May 24, 1922 in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

– November 27, 2007 in Lancaster, California) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player.

Biography

Smyres was signed by the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

in 1944 after an injury to shortstop-manager Leo Durocher. Smyres appeared in five games for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the

1944 Major League Baseball season The 1944 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 18 to October 9, 1944. The St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns were the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. In an all-St. Louis pos ...

, recording two

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s but no

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. He never played defense for the Dodgers. Though having never recorded a major league hit, his autograph is one of the rarest among former athletes and is highly sought after by collectors. Items signed by Smyres consistently fetch incredibly high prices at auction. Smyres was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

References

External links

1922 births Brooklyn Dodgers players Baseball players from California Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California 2007 deaths Idaho Falls Russets players Trenton Packers players Newport News Dodgers players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players {{US-baseball-shortstop-stub