Gene Smith (Negro leagues pitcher)

Eugene F. Smith (April 23, 1916 – May 25, 2011) was an American pitcher who played for several Negro league baseball teams between 1938 and 1951. Listed at 6' 1", 185 lb., Smith was a switch hitter and threw right-handed. Smith was known as a hard-throwing pitcher during a solid career that saw him play for nine different Negro league clubs. In addition, he pitched for teams in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Minor League Baseball, taking a three-year break to serve in the US Army during World War II (1943–1945).[1][2]

Gene Smith
Pitcher
Born: (1916-04-23)April 23, 1916
Ansley, Louisiana
Died: May 25, 2011(2011-05-25) (aged 95)
Richmond Heights, Missouri
Batted: Both Threw: Right
Negro league baseball debut
1940, for the New Orleans–St. Louis Stars
Last appearance
1948, for the Cleveland Buckeyes
Teams

Early life

He was born in Ansley, Louisiana. His younger brother, Quincy Smith, also played in the Negro leagues.[3]

Negro league career

Smith entered the Negro leagues in 1938 with the Atlanta Black Crackers, playing for them one year before joining the Ethiopian Clowns (1939), New Orleans-St. Louis Stars (1940–1941), Kansas City Monarchs (1941) and New York Black Yankees (1942). Following military discharge, he played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1946), Homestead Grays (1946–1947), Cleveland Buckeyes (1946–1950) and Chicago American Giants (1951).[4]

In 1938, while pitching for the Black Crackers, Smith threw two no-hitters in one day, and in 1941 with the Stars hurled another against the Black Yankees. He also started Games 3 and 6 of the 1947 Negro World Series against the New York Cubans.[1][5]

Like many Negro leaguers, Gene Smith was never allowed in Major League Baseball. By the time Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, Smith was nearing the end of his own career, with an arm unable to cope with the demands of pitching due to assorted injuries.[5]

Minor leagues

Smith ended his career in 1953, dividing his playing time with the Statesboro Pilots of the Georgia State League and the Fond du Lac Panthers of the Wisconsin State League.[6]

Post-baseball life

Following his baseball career, Smith worked as a packer for National Lead Co., retiring in 1977. He also coached baseball for the Mathews-Dickey Boys' & Girls' Club. Then, in 1983 he gained induction into the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.[5]

In 1997, Smith and other Negro league veterans were honored during a St. Louis Cardinals home game for their work in paving the way for Robinson to make his jump from the Negro leagues to the Brooklyn Dodgers.[5]

Death

Smith was a long resident of Richmond Heights, Missouri, where he died at the age of 95, following a congestive heart failure.[5]

Sources
  1. Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues.
  2. Baseball in Wartime – Negro Leagues
  3. The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues – James A. Riley. Publisher: Chelsea House, 1996. Format: Paperback, 124pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7910-2592-6.
  4. Negro League Baseball Players Association website – Gene Smith entry Archived 2011-08-09 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Alt.Obituaries.com – Gene Smith, 95; pitched in Negro Leagues".
  6. Baseball Reference Minor Leagues – Gene Smith career

External References
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