Clay Smith

Who was Clay Smith?

Clay Jamieson Smith was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for two seasons. He played for the Cleveland Indians for four games in 1938 and the Detroit Tigers for 14 games in 1940. He pitched in the 1940 World Series, posting an ERA of 2.25 in the Series.

Smith was born and died in Cambridge, KS, in southeastern Kansas. He is one of three major leaguers out of Southwestern College in Winfield, KS, in the same county as Cambridge. He was on the baseball, wrestling and track teams in college.

He began pitching in the minors with Fargo-Moorhead in 1935-36, going 15-5 in 1936. After posting a 16–13 record in 1937 for Springfield, he went 8–14 in 1938 for Wilkes-Barre with a decent 3.35 ERA. The pitcher at Wilkes-Barre with the best ERA was Charley Suche, who had also been at Fargo-Moorhead in 1935.

Clay made his major league debut on September 13, 1938, and pitched four games for the 1938 Cleveland Indians that year. He made his debut on September 18, in his only major league appearance.

Smith spent 1939 at Buffalo, where he went 13–11. A teammate was the 21-year-old Lou Boudreau, who hit .331. Smith led the team in victories.