Smead Powell Jolley (January 14, 1902 – November 17, 1991) was an American outfielder in professional baseball. He played from 1922 to 1941, including four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1930 to 1933. Jolley was considered a good hitter. His poor fielding kept him from having a longer major league career, but he spent eight seasons in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

(PCL), the top minor league of that era. In 1928, he won the PCL Triple Crown. He was inducted into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame in 2003.

Early minor league career

Jolley was born in Wesson, Arkansas, in 1902. He was 6'3" tall and weighed 210 pounds."Smead Jolley Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2021. Jolley started his professional baseball career in 1922 with the

Greenville Bucks The Greenville Bucks or sometimes Buckshots were a Cotton States League baseball team in Greenville, Mississippi that existed from 1922 to 1955. They were affiliated with the Memphis Chicks (Southern Association), Memphis Chicks in the 1930s, the N ...

of the class D Cotton States League. That season, he was a pitcher and had a 12–7 win–loss record in 180

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. He also had a .314 batting average."Smead Jolley Minor Leagues Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2021. In 1923, Jolley was an outfielder and pitcher for the

Shreveport Gassers The Shreveport Gassers were a Texas League baseball team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States that played from 1915 to 1924. They were affiliated with the Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball t ...

of the class A Texas League. He batted .332 and had a 2–8 record in 111 innings pitched. In 1924, Jolley was an outfielder and pitcher for the Texarkana Twins of the class D

East Texas League The East Texas League was a Texas–based minor league baseball league that existed between 1916 to 1950. The East Texas League played as a Class D level league in 1916 and from 1923 to 1926. The league became a Class C level league from 193 ...

. He batted .371 and had a 9–9 record in 184 innings pitched. That was the last season in which he spent significant time as a pitcher. In 1925, Jolley played for the Corsicana Oilers of the class D Texas Association and batted .362.

San Francisco Seals

Jolley played for the San Francisco Seals of the class AA Pacific Coast League from 1926 to 1929. In 1926, he batted .346. In 1927, Jolley batted .397 with 33 home runs and 163 runs batted in (RBI). He led the PCL in batting average and RBI."Smead Jolley"
milb.com. Retrieved October 28, 2021. In 1928, Jolley batted .404 with 45 home runs and 188 RBI, leading the league in all three categories to win the Triple Crown. He also led the league with 309

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, a .675

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

, and 516 total bases. The Seals won the PCL championship. In 1929, Jolley batted .387 with 35 home runs and 159 RBI.

Major League Baseball

In November 1929, the Seals traded Jolley to the Chicago White Sox of the American League (AL). In 1930, he batted .313 with 16 home runs and 116 RBI. In 1931, he batted .300 with 3 home runs and 28 RBI. In April 1932, the White Sox traded Jolley to the AL's Boston Red Sox. Overall, he batted .312 with 18 home runs and 106 RBI in 1932. In 1933, he batted .282 with 9 home runs and 65 RBI.

Later minor league career

In December 1933, the Red Sox traded Jolley to the AL's St. Louis Browns. The Browns then traded him to the PCL's Hollywood Stars. In 1934, Jolley batted .360. In 1935, he batted .372. In 1936, Jolley played for the

Albany Senators The Albany Senators was a name used by multiple minor league baseball teams representing Albany, New York, that existed between 1885 and 1959. The mid-20th century club played at Hawkins Stadium (Albany), Hawkins Stadium. The various editions of t ...

of the class AA

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. He led the league with a .373 batting average, 221 hits, 52 doubles, and 345 total bases. In 1937, Jolley played for the Nashville Volunteers of the class A1 Southern Association and batted .298. Jolley joined the PCL's

Oakland Oaks Oakland Oaks may refer to one of the following sport teams, listed chronologically: * Oakland Oaks (PCL), a minor league baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1955 *Oakland Oaks (ice hockey), a professional ice hockey t ...

in 1938. He batted .350. In 1939, he batted .309. In 1940, Jolley joined the Spokane Indians of the class B Western International League. He led the league with a .373 batting average, 224 hits, 56 doubles, and 365 total bases. Jolley finished his professional baseball career with the Indians in 1941.

Legacy

Jolley had a .305 batting average, 521 hits, 46 home runs, and 313 RBI in the major leagues. He was considered a good hitter but a poor fielder, and his defense was too great of a liability to sustain an MLB career. In the minor leagues, Jolley had over 2,700 hits and over 300 home runs. He spent 20 years in professional baseball, including eight in the PCL, the top minor league of that era. The league had a minimum salary of $5,000 per year, comparable to the two major leagues, and often paid their established players as well as the major leagues. The PCL was sometimes called "the third major league." Jolley died in Alameda, California, in 1991. In 2003, he was inducted into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jolley, Smead 1902 births 1991 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Chicago White Sox players Boston Red Sox players Shreveport Gassers players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Hollywood Stars players Nashville Vols players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Spokane Indians players Baseball players from Arkansas People from Union County, Arkansas