Al Smith (outfielder)

An everyday player in 1954, Smith was a member of the Indians team that won a then-American League record 111 games. Batting from the leadoff spot, he responded with a .281 average, 101 runs, 186 hits, 11 home runs and 59 RBIs. He led off the World Series against the New York Giants with a home run. In 1955, he hit .306 with 22 home runs and 77 RBIs.

In December 1957, Smith was traded by Cleveland along with Early Wynn to the Chicago White Sox for Minnie Miñoso and Fred Hatfield, in a deal that was very unpopular among Chicago fans due to Minoso being a popular figure among White Sox fans. He slumped in the 1958 season with the White Sox to the point that eccentric owner Bill Veeck would hold an "Al Smith Night" on August 26 of the following year to honor his outfielder. Anyone named Smith, Smythe, Schmidt, or Smithe was admitted free and given a button that said, "I'm a Smith and I'm for Al." On his big night, Smith went one-for-four, hitting into two easy outs with runners in scoring position. To add insult to injury, in the seventh inning, with a runner on second for Boston, Smith made an error on a fly ball hit by Vic Wertz. A subsequent walk led to the replacement of starter Early Wynn, and Gerry Staley would implode what was a 2-1 lead for the White Sox into a 5-2 deficit on two hits and a sacrifice fly, and the White Sox eventually lost 7-6; at any rate, the White Sox held consistent for the remainder of the year to win 94 total games and win their first American League pennant in four decades.[4]

This made Smith the only position player to be a starter (525+ plate appearances) on both non-Yankee AL pennant-winners in the Yankees’ 16-year (1949-64) run of 14 pennants (Al Lopez managed both teams).

Gora's famous photograph of Smith

It was during the 1959 World Series that Smith would enter baseball journalism history. In Game 2 at Comiskey Park, Smith retreated to the left field wall in pursuit of a long drive hit by Charlie Neal of the Los Angeles Dodgers. As Smith watched the ball sail into the third row seats for a home run, a fan (Melvin Piehl, an executive for a motor-oil company) seated in the first row trying to catch the ball, accidentally tipped over his cup of beer, dousing Smith's head and face. Smith estimated that he signed photographs depicting that moment at least 200,000 times, and without making a cent on it. The photograph was taken by AP Chicago Tribune staff photographer John Raymond Gora, who died in 2003.

In 1960, Smith won the respect of the fans by hitting a career-high .315 and making the league All-Star team. In 1961, he slugged a career-high 28 home runs, and led the White Sox in home runs that season. In 1962, he hit .292, and again led the White Sox with 16 home runs. He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles at age 35.

Smith was sent to the Baltimore Orioles before the 1963 season with Luis Aparicio in the same transaction that brought Hoyt Wilhelm, Dave Nicholson, Pete Ward and Ron Hansen to the White Sox.[5] His last major league season was in 1964, when he divided his playing time between the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox.