Part 2: George Smith
After Ed Charles leaves Gibbs High School, he is succeeded in Gibbs High School Athletics by Sophomore George Smith. Beginning in the fall of ’52, Smith plays three sports, football, basketball and baseball. He is a key reserve as a back in football his sophomore season. A highlight being a “pick 6” interception. He quarterbacks as a junior and becomes the key receiver his senior year in which he was voted all-state. In basketball he is named co-captain in both his junior and senior years. He is often the leading scorer. He was a slick fielding middle infielder on the baseball field. He receives praise for both his fielding and his hitting.
In the summers Smith sees time with the St. Pete Pelicans of the Florida State Negro Baseball League where he is mentored by former and future pro shortstop Jim Oliver (professional negro leagues before, integrated St. Pete Cardinals after). Upon graduation he played two professional games for the St. Petersburg Saints. Smith was then picked up by the negro Indianapolis Clowns who annually barnstormed through St. Pete and usually opposed the Pelicans for the ’56 & ’57 seasons. Teammate and pitcher Carl Forney said, “The best ballplayer we had out there during my time was George Smith. That man could play some second base.” Player/manager Ed Hamman, a fellow St. Petersburg resident said, “The Clowns have never had a player as gentlemanly as was George Smith. He was perfect with us and we hated it when he left.” In 1958, the Detroit Tigers purchased his contract, and he began his journey through the minors.
With the exception of 1962, Smith never hit for a high average although he walked enough so that his on base percentage looked serviceable. In 1962 he hit .292 (with a .373 on-base percentage). In addition to 2nd base, George played 3rd base and the outfield in the minors. In ’63 he gets his break due to another player’s injury and goes to Detroit where he appears in 111 games. He only hits .225. In ’64 he only appears with the Tigers as a September call-up. In ‘65 he begins the season with the Tigers but doesn’t hit well enough to stay. Called back up in August, he doesn’t fare any better.
In October of 1965, Smith is included in a trade package to the Boston Red Sox. After finishing in 9th place in “65, the Sox are most interested in his defense at second base. Smith played 128 games in ’66. mostly at 2nd base, more than the combined number of games he played with the Tigers over three seasons. He did the job fielding, but his hitting fell off in the 2nd half of the season.
In ’67, with a new manager who selects Mike Andrews to man 2nd base, Smith is slated to be a utility player. However, after tearing ligaments in his knee in spring training, he undergoes surgery and misses the first couple of months. When Smith returns to action he is optioned to the minor leagues and will never again return to the major leagues. He plays the ’68 season in the minors before announcing his retirement.
Smith must have been as popular with his Red Sox teammates as he was with the Clowns. The ’67 Sox made the miracle run to the pennant and World Series against the Cardinals. When the players voted shares of World Series money, Smith was voted a one-third share by his teammates despite never appearing in the majors that season.
Smith returns to St. Pete and becomes a physical education teacher. He contracts cancer and dies on June 15, 1987. Divorced, he left behind seven daughters.
