Red Smith

Who was Red Smith?

James Carlisle "Red" Smith was a Major League Baseball third baseman for the Brooklyn teams of the early 1910s and the Braves teams of the late 1910s. He was an interesting player for the time, accumulating a solid .278 career batting average. He was right-handed and stood around 5 ft 11 in.

Smith was born in Greenville, South Carolina and attended the Alabama Polytechnic Institute before making his ML debut with Brooklyn on September 5, 1911.

Smith's best years came in 1913 and 1914 although all his years were quite solid, and in 1918 he had his best season batting average at .298 in 429 at bats. In 1913, he put up good numbers in all categories, including a league-leading 40 doubles, career-high 10 triples, and a tie for a career-high in stolen bases, with 22. He also had 22 the previous year. In 1914, the year in which Smith was sold to Boston, he put up very good numbers including a career-high .395 slugging percentage and career-highs in home runs and RBIs. He batted .314 after he was traded on August 10.