Peter Luke Smith (born March 19, 1940) is a former

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played from to for the

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. Listed at 6' 2", 190 lb., Smith batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

. A native of

Natick, Massachusetts Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part o ...

, he idolized

Bobby Doerr Robert Pershing Doerr (April 7, 1918 – November 13, 2017) was an American professional baseball second baseman and coach (baseball), coach. He played his entire 14-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Boston Red Sox (1937–1951). ...

as a child and graduated from

Natick High School Natick High School is an urban/suburban public high school serving students in grades 9 to 12 in Natick, Massachusetts, United States. The school is located on the banks of Dug Pond. Its enrollment was 1,603 students during the 2015–2016 school ...

in 1957 before attending

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

. At Colgate, Smith played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and ran cross country. He set an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

record by striking out 23 batters in a game against Bucknell. In a two-season career, Smith posted a 0–1 record with a 6.75

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in seven appearances, including two starts, giving up 14 runs on 18 hits and eight walks while

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish television legal drama television series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017, based on ''The Good Wife'' by Robert King (writer), Robert and Michelle King. Prod ...

seven in innings of work. On September 28, 1963, at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

, Smith started a

triple play In baseball or softball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three out (baseball), outs during the same play. There have only been 739 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of ju ...

against the

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

with the last ball he fielded in the majors. With

Charlie Dees Charles Henry Dees (born June 24, 1935) is a retired American professional baseball player whose career extended from 1957 through 1966. The first baseman appeared in 98 games played in Major League Baseball over parts of three seasons (1963–6 ...

running on

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

and Lee Thomas on

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, Félix Torres tried to advance both runners with a

bunt Bunt may refer to: People * Darrell Bunt (1902–1977), Royal Navy chaplain * Dick Bunt (1929–2021), American basketball player * Raymond Bunt (born 1944), Pennsylvania politician * Bunt Stephens (John L. Stephens, 1889–1951), or Uncle Bunt ...

. Unfortunately for Torres, Smith fielded cleanly the ball and threw to 3B

Frank Malzone Frank James Malzone (February 28, 1930 – December 29, 2015) was an American Major League Baseball third baseman who played for the Boston Red Sox (1955–65) and California Angels (1966). Early life Malzone was born on February 28, 1930, in th ...

, who tagged Dees out before throwing the ball to SS

Eddie Bressoud Edward Francis Bressoud (May 2, 1932 – July 13, 2023) was an American professional baseball shortstop. Bressoud played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from through for the New York / San Francisco Giants (1956–1961), Boston Red Sox (1962� ...

, covering second to double out Thomas. Bressoud then threw to 2B Félix Mantilla, who covered first and completed the 1-5-6-4 triple play. After the end of his baseball career, he served as a school guidance counselor mostly in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

References

External links

The Baseball Cube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Pete 1940 births Living people Alpine Cowboys players Boston Red Sox players Colgate Raiders baseball players Johnstown Red Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Sportspeople from Natick, Massachusetts Pittsfield Red Sox players Seattle Rainiers players Baseball players from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Natick High School alumni Colgate Raiders men's soccer players Men's association football players not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality 20th-century American sportsmen