Sherrod Malone (Sherry) Smith (February 18, 1891 – September 12, 1949) was a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

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), ...

. From 1911 until 1927, he pitched for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

(1911–12),

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

(1915–17, 1919–1922) and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

(1922–1927). Smith batted right-handed and threw left-handed. He was born in

Monticello, Georgia Monticello is the largest city and the county seat of Jasper County, Georgia, United States. The city includes historic buildings such as the Jasper County Courthouse, Monticello High School and the Monticello Historic District. The populati ...

. Smith was the hard-luck loser of one of the longest World Series games ever played. He pitched all the way into the 14th inning for Brooklyn, dueling with Boston's starting pitcher,

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

, in Game 2 of the

1916 World Series The 1916 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1916 season. The 13th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Boston Red Sox against the National League champion Brooklyn Robi ...

until the Red Sox won it 2–1. It would be his only appearance in that Series. He made two strong starts in the

1920 World Series The 1920 World Series was the championship series for Major League Baseball's 1920 season. The series was a best-of-nine format played between the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National League (NL) champion Brooklyn ...

. Smith was the winning pitcher of Game 3 against Cleveland, throwing a three-hitter in a 2–1 victory. But despite another impressive effort in Game 6, he lost a 1–0 duel with Duster Mails, and Brooklyn ended up losing that Series in seven games. Placed on waivers after the 1922 season, Smith was claimed by Cleveland and pitched there for several seasons. He led all American League pitchers in 1925 in complete games with 22, also leading the league that season in walks and hits allowed. In a 14-season career, Smith posted a 114–118 record with 428

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and a 3.32

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

in 2,052.2

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. Smith was a good hitting pitcher in his major league career. He posted a .233 batting average (165-for-709) with 59 runs, 6

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 ...

and 60 RBI. He was used as a pinch-hitter five times in his career. Smith died in

Reidsville, Georgia Reidsville is a city in, and county seat of, Tattnall County, Georgia. The population was 4,944 at the 2010 census. The Georgia State Prison is near Reidsville. History Reidsville was founded in about 1828 and was designated county seat of Tattnal ...

, at age 58.

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1891 births 1949 deaths People from Monticello, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Brooklyn Robins players Cleveland Indians players Pittsburgh Pirates players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Minor league baseball managers Greensboro Champs players Jacksonville Jays players Greenwood Scouts players Springfield Reapers players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Grand Rapids Bill-eds players Newark Indians players People from Reidsville, Georgia Cedartown Cedars players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub