George Henry "Heinie" Smith (October 24, 1871 – June 25, 1939) was an American second baseman and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) who played for the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

(1897–1898), Pittsburgh Pirates (1899), New York Giants (1901–1902) and Detroit Tigers (1903).

Career

In his best season in 1902, Smith hit .252 and posted career-highs in games (138),

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBIs) (33), hits (129), doubles (19), runs (46), and stolen bases (32). Also during that year, Smith took over as interim

of the New York Giants and recorded a 5–27 record before being replaced by

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...

. Smith then returned to being a full-time player. In his career, Smith posted a .238

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with three

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 91 RBIs in 311 games played.

After Major League career

Following his majors career, Smith played and managed in the International League for the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

and coached the University at Buffalo baseball team in 1915 and 1916. Smith died in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

at the age of 67."G. H. (Heinie) Smith.", ''New York Post'' – June 26, 1939.

Major League Heinie's

"Heinie" was a common nickname for German baseball players in the early part of the 20th century. Smith was one of 22 Major League Heinie's in the first half of the 20th century. They include

Heinie Manush Henry Emmett Manush (July 20, 1901 – May 12, 1971), nicknamed "Heinie", was an American baseball outfielder. He played professional baseball for 20 years from 1920 to 1939, including 17 years in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers (1 ...

Heinie Groh Henry Knight "Heinie" Groh (September 18, 1889 – August 22, 1968) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1912 to 1927, spending nearly his entire career with the Cinc ...

Heinie Zimmerman Henry Zimmerman (February 9, 1887 – March 14, 1969), known as "Heinie" or "The Great Zim", was an American professional baseball third baseman. Zimmerman played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants from 1907 to 191 ...

, Heinie Beckendorf and Heinie Schuble. In the 60-plus years since the end of World War II, there has not been a single Heinie in Major League Baseball.

References

External links

University at Buffalo Libraries – U.B. Sports History Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Heinie Major League Baseball second basemen 19th-century baseball players Detroit Tigers players Louisville Colonels players New York Giants (NL) players Pittsburgh Pirates players New York Giants (NL) managers Baseball players from Pennsylvania 1871 births 1939 deaths Minor league baseball managers Paterson Silk Weavers players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Rochester Bronchos players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Montreal Royals players Newark Indians players Troy Trojans (minor league) players Erie Yankees players Major League Baseball player-managers

Career

After Major League career

Major League Heinie's

See also

References

External links