Harry Thomas Smith (October 31, 1874 – February 17, 1933), was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. He played in

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), ...

as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

from 1901 to 1910.

Baseball career

Born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, England, Smith played as a back-up catcher for Pittsburgh Pirates (1902–07, 178 games) and

Boston Doves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

(1907–11, 154 games), after starting at Philadelphia Athletics for 11 games. Smith had planned to retire as a player and become a scout in

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Jan ...

but, when manager

Frank Bowerman Frank Eugene Bowerman (December 5, 1868 – November 30, 1948) was an American catcher and manager in Major League Baseball with the Baltimore Orioles, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the New York Giants, and the Boston Doves, as well as a player-manag ...

resigned in mid-July, the Doves named him as a

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

for the remainder of the season. He was replaced as manager by

Fred Lake Frederick Lovett Lake (October 16, 1866 – November 24, 1931) was a Canadian professional baseball catcher and Major League manager for Boston American and National leagues teams in the early 20th century. Lake hailed from Cornwallis Township, ...

for the

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

season but, remained on as a catcher. He played in his final major league game in 1910 at the age of 35.

Career statistics

In a ten-year major league career, Smith played in 343 games, accumulating 214 hits in 1,004 at bats for a .213 career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

along with 2

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 89

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

and an on-base percentage of .262. He had a .967 career fielding percentage as a catcher during his career. He was a strong defensive catcher with a 47.32 career caught stealing percentage that ranks 50th among all major league catchers.

Minor league managerial career

After his playing career went on to manage in the

Minor Leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

for several seasons.

References

External links

1874 births 1933 deaths Major League Baseball players from the United Kingdom Major League Baseball players from England English baseball players Sportspeople from Yorkshire Philadelphia Athletics players Pittsburgh Pirates players Boston Doves players Boston Doves managers Major League Baseball catchers Minor league baseball managers Canton Deubers players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Wilkes-Barre Coal Barons players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Danville Red Sox players Newark Indians players Dallas Giants players Galveston Pirates players Major League Baseball player-managers {{Baseball-manager-stub

Baseball career

Career statistics

Minor league managerial career

See also

References

External links