Charlie Smith

Who was Charlie Smith?

Charles Edwin Smith was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1902 through 1914 for the Cleveland Bronchos, Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. Listed at 6 ft 1 in, 185 lb., Smith batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His older brother, Fred Smith, also pitched in the majors.

Smith always was a bad luck pitcher either due to injury or playing on a bad baseball team. He had a promising debut for Cleveland on August 6, 1902, defeating future Hall of Famer Rube Waddell and the Philadelphia Athletics, 5–4, at League Park. Then, working with just two day's rest, he shut out the Baltimore Orioles, 7–0, ending his rookie season with a 2–1 record in three starts. He spent three years in the minors before joining the hapless Senators in 1906. In three seasons for Washington he posted ERAs of 2.91, 2.61 and 2.41, but finished with negative records of 9–16, 10–20 and 6–12. In 1909 he went 6–12 with a 3.27 ERA for Washington, before being traded to the Red Sox for Doc Gessler late in the season. In three starts for Boston he went 3–0 with a 2.16 ERA, and resurfaced in 1910 going 11–6 with a 2.30 ERA. While pitching for the dreadful Cubs, he led the National League with six relief wins in 1912.