Hal Smith Stats

Hal Smith was born on Sunday, December 7, 1930, in West Frankfort, Illinois. Smith was 24 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 11, 1955, with the Baltimore Orioles. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Hal Smith baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"The Cincinnati Reds signed Hal Smith, who can play first and third base, catch, play a guitar, a gas stove or a paint brush. Smith is a gift to more than baseball writers. His work is available to review and criticism by cooking and music writers. He has a winter act that belongs to show critics. Smith once made $2,500 a month for four months, beating a guitar and singing in night clubs. He's an amateur cook who is ready to publish a recipe book. He used to work in Detroit as a painter." - Harmon, Pat. The Guam Daily News: Versatile and Peripatetic, Hal Smith Is Now With Reds. 20 January 1964. Page 10.

Hal Smith

Hal Smith Autograph on a 1961 Topps Baseball Card (#242 | <a href='../baseball_cards/baseball_cards_oneset.php?s=1961top01' title='1961 Topps Baseball Card Checklist'>Checklist</a>)

Hal Smith Autograph on a 1961 Topps Baseball Card (#242 | Checklist)

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Birth Name:   Harold Wayne Smith
Nickname:   Hal
Born On:   12-07-1930  (Sagittarius)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   West Frankfort, Illinois
Year of Death Data Died On:   01-09-2020 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Columbus, Texas
Cemetery:   Not Yet Determined
High School:   Undetermined
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-00   Player Weight Chart Weight:   195
First Game:   04-11-1955 (Age 24)
Last Game:   07-22-1964
Draft:   Not Applicable

Hal Smith

Hal Smith Pitching Stats

- - Did Not Pitch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hal Smith

Hal Smith Hitting Stats

1955 25 Orioles 135 424 41 115 23 4 4 0 52 30 2 21 4 6 2 16 .271 .318 .373
1956 26 Orioles 77 229 16 60 14 0 3 0 18 17 3 22 2 1 1 16 .262 .315 .362
1956 26 Athletics 37 142 15 39 9 2 2 0 24 3 0 12 0 3 0 2 .275 .284 .408
1957 27 Athletics 107 360 41 109 26 0 13 1 41 14 0 44 5 3 1 13 .303 .328 .483
1958 28 Athletics 99 315 32 86 19 2 5 0 46 25 2 47 1 8 2 6 .273 .323 .394
1959 29 Athletics 108 292 36 84 12 0 5 0 31 34 0 39 2 1 3 4 .288 .367 .380
1960 30 Pirates 77 258 37 76 18 2 11 0 45 22 0 48 1 3 2 6 .295 .351 .508
1961 31 Pirates 67 193 12 43 10 0 3 0 26 11 1 38 2 1 1 6 .223 .267 .321
1962 32 Colt .45s 109 345 32 81 14 0 12 0 35 24 1 55 2 3 2 13 .235 .286 .380
1963 33 Colt .45s 31 58 1 14 2 0 0 0 2 4 1 15 0 0 0 4 .241 .290 .276
1964 34 Reds 32 66 6 8 1 0 0 0 3 12 2 20 1 0 0 6 .121 .256 .136
10 Years 879 2,682 269 715 148 10 58 1 323 196 12 361 20 29 14 92 .267 .317 .394

Hal Smith

Hal Smith Fielding Stats

1955 Orioles C 125 113 2,941 563 4.5 555 497 58 8 9 14 4 31 .986 5.10
1956 Orioles C 71 59 1,583 348 4.9 346 313 33 2 11 1 28 14 .994 5.90
1956 Athletics C 37 36 914 208 5.6 205 183 22 3 3 5 15 9 .986 6.06
1957 Athletics C 103 95 2,565 527 5.1 518 463 55 9 8 16 6 31 .983 5.45
1958 Athletics 1B 14 14 375 126 9.0 126 120 6 0 6 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 9.07
1958 Athletics 3B 43 42 1,152 138 3.2 131 44 87 7 9 n/a n/a n/a .949 3.07
1958 Athletics C 31 29 774 169 5.5 168 149 19 1 4 9 3 9 .994 5.86
1959 Athletics 3B 77 60 1,659 214 2.8 204 85 119 10 10 n/a n/a n/a .953 3.32
1959 Athletics C 22 18 507 140 6.4 135 125 10 5 5 3 5 4 .964 7.19
1960 Pirates C 71 66 1,761 392 5.5 386 356 30 6 5 8 19 10 .985 5.92
1961 Pirates C 65 55 1,444 311 4.8 308 290 18 3 1 8 14 6 .990 5.76
1962 Colt .45s 1B 2 1 30 10 5.0 10 10 0 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 9.00
1962 Colt .45s 3B 6 2 75 8 1.3 7 0 7 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .875 2.52
1962 Colt .45s C 92 86 2,316 644 7.0 635 570 65 9 9 6 59 24 .986 7.40
1963 Colt .45s C 11 10 272 68 6.2 67 65 2 1 1 2 3 2 .985 6.65
1964 Reds C 20 18 482 115 5.8 113 105 8 2 1 2 7 5 .983 6.33
C Totals 648 585 15,559 3,485 5.4 3,436 3,116 320 49 57 74 163 145 .986 5.96
3B Totals 126 104 2,886 360 2.9 342 129 213 18 19 n/a n/a n/a .950 3.20
1B Totals 16 15 405 136 8.5 136 130 6 0 7 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 9.07
10 Years 790 704 18,850 3,981 5.0 3,914 3,375 539 67 83 74 163 145 .983 5.61

Hal Smith

Hal Smith Miscellaneous Stats

1955 Orioles 1 3 .250 12 0 n/a 106.0 20.2 8.2 - - -
1956 Orioles 1 0 1.000 8 0 n/a 76.3 10.4 12.7 - - -
1956 Athletics 1 1 .500 0 0 n/a 71.0 11.8 5.9 - - -
1957 Athletics 2 2 .500 8 1 n/a 27.7 8.2 8.8 - - -
1958 Athletics 0 0 .000 11 1 n/a 63.0 6.7 6.8 - - -
1959 Athletics 0 3 .000 14 0 n/a 58.4 7.5 9.4 - - -
1960 Pirates 1 1 .500 6 0 n/a 23.5 5.4 5.7 - - -
1961 Pirates 0 0 .000 2 0 n/a 64.3 5.1 7.4 - - -
1962 Colt .45s 0 0 .000 15 0 n/a 28.8 6.3 9.9 - - -
1963 Colt .45s 0 0 .000 20 0 n/a 0.0 3.9 29.0 - - -
1964 Reds 1 0 1.000 13 0 n/a 0.0 3.3 22.0 - - -
10 Years 7 10 .412 109 2 n/a 46.2 7.4 8.3 - - -

Hal Smith

Hal Smith Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1955 Baltimore Orioles 22 $10,000.00 - -
1956 Baltimore Orioles 22 $12,500.00 - -
1956 Kansas City Athletics 9 "     "     - -
1957 Kansas City Athletics 9 $14,500.00 - -
1958 Kansas City Athletics 9 $16,500.00 - -
1959 Kansas City Athletics 9 $16,500.00 - -
1960 Pittsburgh Pirates 5 $17,500.00 - Stats
1961 Pittsburgh Pirates 5 $25,000.00 - -
1962 Houston Colt .45s 8, 9 $26,000.00 - -
1963 Houston Colt .45s 9 $20,000.00 - -
1964 Cincinnati Reds 9 $15,000.00 - -

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Harold Wayne Smith was a Major League Baseball player with the Baltimore Orioles (1955-1956), Kansas City Athletics (1956-1959), Pittsburgh Pirates (1960-1961), Houston Colt .45s (1962-1963), and Cincinnati Reds (1964). Hal, his nickname, was a talented utility player, often platooning at catcher and third base over his ten year career.

Hal Smith Rookie Baseball Card

Hal Smith Rookie Card | 1956 Topps Baseball Card (#62 | Checklist)
Baseball Almanac Collection

Hal Smith hit fifty-eight home runs in his career, off fifty different pitchers, in eighteen different ballparks. He never hit a lead-off home run, an inside the park home run, or a walk off home run, but during the 1960 World Series, he hit one that Dick Groat called, "the most forgotten home run in baseball history."

A Hanging, Harry High School Slider

The next batter was Hal Smith, who had gone in to catch when (Smoky) Burgess was removed for a pinch runner. Smith was a former Yankee farmhand who had played five years in the American League with the Athletics and Orioles. Traded to Pittsburgh in 1960, he formed a hard-hitting platoon with Burgess. Burgess batted .294 and Smith .295, and the two receivers combined for 18 home runs and 84 runs batted in. The Yankees knew Smith better than they knew most of the Pirate batters. Some had played with or against him in the minors and nearly all of them had played against him in the American League. "Hal Smith was a high fastball hitter," said (Ryne) Duren, who was sill smoldering in the Yankee bullpen. "You could jam Smith," said Terry, "and (Jim) Coates had a real good fastball."

On the mound, Coates, though shaken by his fielding blunder, was confident he could get Smith out. "Smith could never hit me," he called, "not even in the minors." Coates' first pitch was a fastball across the letters for a strike. "Oh, God," thought Duren, "Don't throw him another one up there." Coates, however, kept challenging Smith, who took a mighty rip at another, and barely checked his swing on the next. The fifth pitch, according to Coates, was a hanging slider, not inside where he wanted it, but right out over the plate. Smith hit a line drive to left field. "I knew he hit it awfully hard," said (Joe) DeMaestri, "but I didn't think it was high enough to get out. It took off like a two iron shot and went over the fence." Coates threw his glove ten feet in the air.

Smith's dramatic home run gave the Pirates a 9-7 lead, as pandemonium broke loose at Forbes Field. Chuck Thompson told his partner Quinlan, "We have seen and shared one of baseball's all-time great moments. This is one of the most dramatic home runs of all time."

Source: Ryczek. William J. The Yankees in the Early 1960s. McFarland and Company. 6 September 2007. Page 40.

Why did Groat refer to it as "the most forgotten home run in baseball history"? The Bronx Bombers battled back to tie the game in the top of the ninth, which set the stage for Bill Mazeroski to hit his historic — and well-remembered — series-winning walk-off home run. On Baseball Almanac, we do not forget:

While Hal's home run is overshadowed by Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run that won the 1960 World Series, it is far more important in terms of Championship Win Probability Added, which is explained in this video below:

Did you know that when Hal Smith took the field on April 10, 1962, starting behind the plate in an Opening Day game for the Houston Colt .45s (who changed their name to the Houston Astros in 1965), he became their first catcher in franchise history?