James Carlisle "Red" Smith (April 6, 1890 – October 11, 1966) 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), ...

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 ...

for the Brooklyn teams of the early 1910s (known by a few different names, Dodgers in 1911 and 1912, Superbas in 1913, and Robins in 1914, now the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

) and the

Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

teams of the late 1910s (then located in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

). He was an interesting player for the time, accumulating a solid .278 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 ...

. He was right-handed and stood around . Smith was born in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

and attended the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now known as

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

) before making his ML debut with Brooklyn on September 5, 1911. Smith's best years came in 1913 and 1914 although all his years were quite solid, and in 1918 he had his best season batting average at .298 in 429 at bats. In 1913, he put up good numbers in all categories, including a league-leading 40 doubles, career-high 10 triples, and a tie for a career-high in stolen bases, with 22. He also had 22 the previous year. In 1914, the year in which Smith was sold to Boston, he put up very good numbers including a career-high .395

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

and career-highs in home runs (7) and RBIs (85). He batted .314 after he was traded on August 10. Smith was not a very solid fielding 3B, putting up bad

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

s (.932 career at 3B) and generally over 30 errors a year. After going to Boston, he finally had the chance to compete for a pennant, and won a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

with them in

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

, but he didn't play due to broken right leg that he suffered on the final day of the season, and his team never got there again, peaking at a 2nd-place finish in 1915 under

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 o ...

George Stallings George Tweedy Stallings (November 17, 1867 – May 13, 1929) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and Philadelphia Phillies in 1890 and 1897 to 1898 and manage ...

. They finished seven games behind the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

that year, and dropped off soon after that. Still, Smith is often remembered as a significant part of Boston's climb into first place in 1914. In an active nine-year career, Smith had a .278 average with 27

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 and 514

RBIs 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 1117 career games. He had a total of 1087 career

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 ...

in 3907

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. Other stats included 117 career

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s, 477

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

, 208 all-time doubles and 49

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

. Smith died on October 11, 1966 in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

External links

Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Red 1890 births 1966 deaths Major League Baseball third basemen Baseball players from South Carolina Brooklyn Dodgers players Brooklyn Robins players Boston Braves players Sportspeople from Greenville, South Carolina Auburn Tigers baseball players Minor league baseball managers Anderson Electricians players Nashville Vols players Brooklyn Superbas players Vernon Tigers players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Atlanta Crackers players Jacksonville Tars players Peoria Tractors players Springfield Senators players

See also

External links