Hal Smith (infielder)
| Hal Smith | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||
| Catcher / Third baseman / First baseman | |||
|
Born: December 7, 1930 West Frankfort, Illinois |
|||
|
|||
| MLB debut | |||
| April 11, 1955, for the Baltimore Orioles | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| July 22, 1964, for the Cincinnati Reds | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .267 | ||
| Home runs | 58 | ||
| Runs batted in | 323 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
|
|||
Harold Wayne Smith (born December 7, 1930) is an American former professional baseball player. He was a utilityman — a catcher, third baseman and first baseman — in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1964 who played for five different teams, but is best known for his key role during the 1960 World Series as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. During his playing career, he threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, and weighed 195 pounds (88 kg).
Smith was signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees in 1949 but he never played for the Yankees. He was included in a 17-player trade (one of the largest in Major League annals) to the Baltimore Orioles after the 1954 season and he made his big-league debut with the Orioles as their starting catcher on Opening Day 1955, going hitless in three at bats against Bob Porterfield of the Washington Senators.
During his rookie season, Smith appeared in a career-high 135 games, 113 as a starting catcher, but in 1956 he lost his regular job to Gus Triandos (who had also been traded by the Yankees to the Orioles in the 17-player deal). Smith was swapped to the Kansas City Athletics for fellow backstop Joe Ginsberg in August 1956; he would play in Kansas City through 1959 as a catcher and third baseman, batting over .300 in 1957. Inter-league trading without waivers was inaugurated after the 1959 season, and on December 9, Smith was dealt to the Pirates for relief pitcher Dick Hall and two other players.
...
Wikipedia