Mayo Smith
Edward Mayo "Catfish" Smith was an American professional baseball player, manager, and scout who played in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics. Smith had a 39-year baseball career from to. He is also the namesake of the "Mayo Smith Society", the Detroit Tigers international fan club that awards the "King Tiger Award," each year.
Smith served as the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and Detroit Tigers, compiling a managerial record of 662–612. He received The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award in after the Tigers won the American League pennant by 12 games with a record of 103–59 and defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1968 World Series. ESPN has ranked Smith's decision to move Mickey Stanley to shortstop for the 1968 World Series as the third "gutsiest call" in sports history.
Smith also played professional baseball for 18 seasons from 1933 to, including one season in MLB, with the 1945 Philadelphia Athletics. He spent his most productive years in the International League playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Bisons and in the Pacific Coast League with the Portland Beavers. Smith also spent 13 years in the New York Yankees organization as a minor league manager from to and as a "super scout" and "trouble shooter" from to.
Early years
Smith was born on January 17, 1915, at New London, Missouri, a small town located south of Hannibal and northwest of St. Louis. He was the only child of George Frederick Smith and Eval Smith. His middle name, "Mayo", was reportedly bestowed by his grandmother, who had been a patient at the Mayo Clinic and "liked the name." In 1920, the family lived in Saverton Township, Ralls County, Missouri, where George Frederick was a farmer.In 1926, at age 11, Smith moved with his family to Lake Worth in Palm Beach County, Florida. In Florida, Smith's father was employed as a butcher or "meat cutter" in a meat market, and his mother was employed as a sales lady in a "dry goods" store.
Smith attended Lake Worth High School where he was the captain of the football and basketball teams and the class president in his sophomore and senior years. He graduated from high school in 1932 and was selected as the "outstanding boy student" in Palm Beach County.
Because Smith's high school did not have a baseball team, he played as a third baseman for a semi-pro Elks team in the Palm Beach County League. According to another source, Smith was a member of the Carl Vogel Post 47, Junior Legion All-Stars in 1929. In any event, Smith was forced to stop playing semi-pro baseball after school officials threatened to expel him if he continued.
Smith was also an outstanding golfer and billiards player, playing professional billiards at age 16. He played in several exhibitions against Ralph Greenleaf and William Hoppe, the billiards champions of the 1920s and 1930s. During his youth, he reportedly picked up extra cash as a pool hustler. While playing professional baseball in Buffalo in the 1940s, a local radio broadcaster challenged Smith to a game of billiards. On his first turn, Smith "broke up the rack and ran 28 points."
Playing career
Toronto Maple Leafs
In 1933, at age 18, Smith signed with the Double-A Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League. He was discovered by Toronto manager Dan Howley, who spent his winters in Palm Beach. Howley assigned Sam Rice, a veteran outfielder and future Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, to train Smith as an outfielder. Smith recalled, "After that, I was more an outfielder than third baseman." Smith managed only three hits in 29 at bats for Toronto during the 1933 season.In 1934, Smith was assigned to the Class B Wilmington Pirates of the Piedmont League. He played the entire 1934 season for Wilmington, though he was called up by the Maple Leafs in September 1934.
In 1935, Smith appeared briefly with the Maple Leafs, having two hits in 11 at bats. He spent most of the 1935 season with Wilmington. He compiled a.315 batting average with 102 total bases in 254 at bats at Wilmington, but his 1935 season was cut short by illness.
In February 1936, Smith reported to the Maple Leafs' training camp in Haines City, Florida, making his fourth attempt to win a full-time berth with the team. He did not make the roster and was sent back to the Piedmont League for the 1936 season. The Wilmington Pirates had moved to Durham, North Carolina, and Smith thus spent the 1936 season with the Durham Bulls, batting.217 in 66 games.
In the spring of 1937, at age 22, Smith finally earned a full-time spot on the Maple Leafs' roster. He became one of the team's starting outfielders and performed well until injuring his leg. At the end of the 1937 season, The Sporting News praised his performance: "The outfield, one of the best in the league last season, needs little improvement. Mayo Smith came along in great style and should be ready for a fine season in 1938. He was hitting the ball and making great defensive plays when, unfortunately, a leg injury took him out of the line-up for several weeks."
He continued as a starting outfielder for the Maple Leafs in 1938 and 1939. In 1939, he played on a Maple Leafs team that included future Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Heinie Manush and Tony Lazzeri. Smith compiled a.286 batting average in 1939, 45 points higher than Manush and 59 points higher than Lazzeri. During the 1939 season, Smith also had 196 total bases in 148 games and a career-high 385 putouts and 13 assists. In July 1939, The Sporting News described Smith as "the most improved player of the season" and reported that his "defensive work is nothing short of sensational."
Buffalo Bisons
In December 1939, Smith was traded by the Maple Leafs to the Buffalo Bisons, the Detroit Tigers farm team in the International League, in exchange for outfielder Johnnie Tyler. Buffalo manager Steve O'Neill later called the trade "the best deal I made in my three years in Buffalo and one of the best of my career." Smith played five seasons, principally as a center fielder, with the Bisons from 1940 to 1944. In 1998, 54 years after he concluded his playing career with the Bisons, Smith was posthumously inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame.Promptly upon joining the Bisons, Smith impressed observers with his defensive play. In April 1940, during a Florida exhibition game against the Detroit Tigers, Smith made a catch that Buffalo sports writer Cy Kritzer later called the greatest catch he had ever seen, including "The Catch" made by Willie Mays in 1954. With the bases loaded in the ninth inning, Hank Greenberg hit the ball better than 475 feet into dead center. According to Kritzer, "Smith turned his back to home plate and dashed straight for the fence. No one gave him a chance to catch the ball. But in the last stride, he leaped and the ball stuck in the web." Bucky Harris, who managed Smith in Buffalo, later said, "My idea of a perfect game would be to have the opposition hit 27 balls into center field... with Mayo Smith out there."
In 1941, Smith hit a walk-off, three-run home run with two out in the bottom of the tenth inning. The Bisons' business manager John Stiglmeier leaped over the rail from his box and ran onto the field to slap Smith on the back when he completed his home-run trot. Smith noted that the slap "actually knocked the wind clean plumb out of me."
On March 25, 1942, 600 residents of Smith's home town of Lake Worth, Florida celebrated "Mayo Smith Day." The Bisons played a spring training game in Lake Worth that day. In a 2–1 loss to the Columbus Red Birds, Smith drove in the Bisons' only run with a single in the eighth inning. Smith went on to have one of his most successful seasons in 1942. He appeared in a career-high 154 games, hit 11 home runs, and compiled a.279 batting average and a.386 on-base percentage. Playing principally in center field, he also had 384 putouts and 13 assists.
After playing in every game for the Bisons in 1942, Smith suffered an injury at the end of spring training in 1943. Smith returned to the line-up and appeared in 136 games in the outfield. However, he suffered sustained trouble with the arches in his feet throughout the 1943 season, leading some to speculate that he was "washed up." Smith attributed the trouble to a job working 12 hours a day on cement floors in a war plant during the 1942–43 off-season. After the 1943 season, Smith tried to stay off his feet as much as possible and soaked his feet each night in solutions prepared by the Buffalo trainer. His wife, Louise, told a reporter, "Mayo eats all his meals with his feet in a tub of water."
In 1944, Smith rebounded from his injuries and had his best season in professional baseball. In May and June 1944, he had separate streaks in which he reached base in 14 and 13 consecutive plate appearances. The latter streak included nine consecutive hits. Smith also won praise in 1944 for his baseball intelligence and as a player who "never made a mistake or missed a signal." In August 1944, Syracuse manager Jewel Ens said: "Smith is the miracle man of the 1944 season.... He's the best hit-and-run man in the league. He's a great hustler and a fine all-around player, and you can say one more thing, he's a credit to the game."
At the end of the 1944 season, Smith had compiled a career-high.340 batting average, won the International League batting title, led the league with 149 walks, and compiled 232 total bases, 42 extra base hits and 12 stolen bases in 150 games. He was unanimously selected to the International League All-Star team and finished second behind Howard Moss in voting for the International League Most Valuable Player award.
Philadelphia Athletics
On November 1, 1944, following his breakout season with the Bisons, Smith was selected by Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics in the Rule 5 draft. However, Smith's opportunity to play in the big leagues was delayed by illness. In February 1945, Smith contracted rheumatic fever and was taken to Buffalo General Hospital by ambulance. He was hospitalized for three weeks and lost 20 pounds as the ailment settled into his arms and shoulders. In March 1945, The Sporting News reported that Smith would remain "flat on his back" for six more weeks and that he had given up hope of playing baseball in 1945. Smith said that he intended to return to his home in Florida as soon as he was well enough to walk.Smith was advised by doctors to remain out of baseball in 1945, but by the end of May 1945, he began working out with the Bisons. He joined the Athletics in mid-June and made his Major League Baseball debut at age 30 on June 24, 1945. He appeared in 73 games with the 1945 Philadelphia Athletics and became the team's starting left fielder for the last part of the season. The 1945 Athletics finished in last place in the American League and compiled a 52–98 record. Smith compiled a.212 batting average and a.333 on-base percentage.