Smead Powell Jolley (January 14, 1902 – November 17, 1991) was an American

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

. He played from 1922 to 1941, including four seasons 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), ...

(MLB) from 1930 to 1933. Jolley was considered a good hitter. His poor fielding kept him from having a longer major league career, but he spent eight seasons in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), the top minor league of that era. In 1928, he won the PCL

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

. He was inducted into the

Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

in 2003.

Early minor league career

Jolley was born in Wesson, Arkansas, in 1902. He was 6'3" tall and weighed 210 pounds."Smead Jolley Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2021. Jolley started his professional baseball career in 1922 with the Greenville Bucks of the class D

Cotton States League The Cotton States League''Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: The Official Record of Minor League Baseball'' – Lloyd Johnson, Steve McDonald, Miles Wolff (editors). Publisher: Baseball America, 1997. Format: Paperback, 672pp. Language: Englis ...

. That season, he was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

and had a 12–7

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

in 180 innings pitched. He also had a .314

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 ...

."Smead Jolley Minor Leagues Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2021. In 1923, Jolley was an outfielder and pitcher for the

Shreveport Gassers The Shreveport Gassers were a Texas League baseball team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States that played from 1915 to 1924. They were affiliated with the Philadelphia Athletics from 1923 to 1924. Under manager Billy Smith, they won the ...

of the class A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. He batted .332 and had a 2–8 record in 111 innings pitched. In 1924, Jolley was an outfielder and pitcher for the

Texarkana Twins The Texarkana Twins were a South Central League (1912), East Texas League (1924-1926), Lone Star League (1927-1929) and Cotton States League (1941) baseball team based in Texarkana, Texas Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United Stat ...

of the class D

East Texas League The East Texas League was a Texas–based minor league baseball league that existed between 1916 to 1950. The East Texas League played as a Class D level league in 1916 and from 1923 to 1926. The league became a Class C level league from 1936 ...

. He batted .371 and had a 9–9 record in 184 innings pitched. That was the last season in which he spent significant time as a pitcher. In 1925, Jolley played for the Corsicana Oilers of the class D

Texas Association The Texas Association was a sports league of Minor League Baseball, minor league baseball teams in Texas that operated from 1923 through 1926. An earlier league, initially known as the Texas-Southern League, used the same name from mid-1896 throu ...

and batted .362.

San Francisco Seals

Jolley played for the San Francisco Seals of the class AA Pacific Coast League from 1926 to 1929. In 1926, he batted .346. In 1927, Jolley batted .397 with 33

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 163

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 ...

(RBI). He led the PCL in batting average and RBI."Smead Jolley"
milb.com. Retrieved October 28, 2021. In 1928, Jolley batted .404 with 45 home runs and 188 RBI, leading the league in all three categories to win the Triple Crown. He also led the league with 309 hits, a .675 slugging percentage, and 516

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, whil ...

. The Seals won the PCL championship. In 1929, Jolley batted .387 with 35 home runs and 159 RBI.

Major League Baseball

In November 1929, the Seals traded Jolley to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL). In 1930, he batted .313 with 16 home runs and 116 RBI. In 1931, he batted .300 with 3 home runs and 28 RBI. In April 1932, the White Sox traded Jolley to the AL's

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

. Overall, he batted .312 with 18 home runs and 106 RBI in 1932. In 1933, he batted .282 with 9 home runs and 65 RBI.

Later minor league career

In December 1933, the Red Sox traded Jolley to the AL's

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

. The Browns then traded him to the PCL's

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

. In 1934, Jolley batted .360. In 1935, he batted .372. In 1936, Jolley played for the Albany Senators of the class AA International League. He led the league with a .373 batting average, 221 hits, 52 doubles, and 345 total bases. In 1937, Jolley played for the Nashville Volunteers of the class A1

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cla ...

and batted .298. Jolley joined the PCL's Oakland Oaks in 1938. He batted .350. In 1939, he batted .309. In 1940, Jolley joined the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

of the class B

Western International League The Western International League was a mid- to higher-level minor league baseball circuit in the Pacific Northwest United States and western Canada that operated in 1922, 1937 to 1942 and 1946 to 1954. In 1955, the Western International Leagu ...

. He led the league with a .373 batting average, 224 hits, 56 doubles, and 365 total bases. Jolley finished his professional baseball career with the Indians in 1941.

Legacy

Jolley had a .305 batting average, 521 hits, 46 home runs, and 313 RBI in the major leagues. He was considered a good hitter but a poor fielder, and his defense was too great of a liability to sustain an MLB career. In the minor leagues, Jolley had over 2,700 hits and over 300 home runs. He spent 20 years in professional baseball, including eight in the PCL, the top minor league of that era. The league had a minimum salary of $5,000 per year, comparable to the two major leagues, and often paid their established players as well as the major leagues. The PCL was sometimes called "the third major league." Jolley died in

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for " tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda Island, but also spans Bay Farm Island and Coast Guard Island, as we ...

, in 1991. In 2003, he was inducted into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jolley, Smead 1902 births 1991 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Chicago White Sox players Boston Red Sox players Shreveport Gassers players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Hollywood Stars players Nashville Vols players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Spokane Indians players Baseball players from Arkansas People from Union County, Arkansas