Milton Smith (March 27, 1929 – April 11, 1997) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

who appeared in 36

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), ...

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

for the

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. Primarily a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball 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 the scoring system us ...

, he threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Smith was born in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

. He broke into professional baseball in 1948 with the minor league

Raleigh Tigers Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

of the

Negro American Association The Negro American Association was the name of two different minor league Negro baseball leagues. Negro American Association (1939) The first Negro American Association was organized in 1939, lasting one season. This league was to be a farm sys ...

and then the

New Orleans Creoles The New Orleans Creoles were a Negro league baseball team based in New Orleans, Louisiana, from at least 1945 until at least 1952. The team was a member of the second Negro Southern League from 1947 to 1948 and 1950 to 1951, and a member of the ...

of the Negro Southern League. In 1949, Smith was with the Charlotte Blues of the

NAA NAA or Naa may refer to: People * Naa Ashorkor (born 1988), Ghanaian actress and radio/ TV broadcaster * Naa Govindasamy (1946–1999), Singaporean Tamil-language writer and computer font developer * Naa Someswara, Indian science writer and T ...

before moving on to the major league Philadelphia Stars of the

Negro American League The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''An ...

later that year. He played for the Stars until 1951, with only a brief stint with the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

at the start of 1950. Smith entered "organized baseball" in 1952 when he was signed by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. His contract was purchased by Cincinnati in November 1954, and he was optioned back to San Diego. The Redlegs recalled him in July 1955 after Smith batted .338 for the PCL Padres with 65

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 bat ...

in 108 games. He stayed with Cincinnati for the remainder of the baseball season, starting 25 games at third base and three at second base. He collected 20

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, including three doubles, one

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

and three

home runs 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 ...

. He was sent back to the Pacific Coast League in 1956 and played the remainder of his career in the minors, retiring after the 1961 campaign. Milt Smith died in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

at the age of 68 and was interred in that city's Greenwood Memorial Park.

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1929 births 1997 deaths African-American baseball players Baseball players from Columbus, Georgia Cincinnati Redlegs players Hawaii Islanders players Lewiston Broncs players Major League Baseball third basemen Omaha Cardinals players Philadelphia Stars players Sacramento Solons players Salem Senators players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Seattle Rainiers players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Tri-City Atoms players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba American expatriate baseball players in Canada Marianao players 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{US-baseball-third-baseman-stub

See also

References

External links