John Patrick Smiley (born March 17, 1965) is an American former

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 (A ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

who played for four teams: the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

, the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

in a twelve-year career from to .

Early life

Smiley graduated from Perkiomen Valley High School in 1983, where he played sports as a baseball pitcher, basketball point guard, and football quarterback.

Career

Despite never playing minor league baseball higher than Class A, Smiley entered spring training before the 1987 season with a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

role already in place, with manager

Jim Leyland James Richard Leyland (born December 15, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He serves as a special assistant to the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Leyland led the Florida Marlins to the ...

saying he would have to "pitch his way off the club". In Smiley's first full season, he led the Pirates in appearances with 63 games. Smiley was converted to a starting pitcher in 1988, lowering his

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

by a full 2.5 runs per game, posting a 3.25 ERA and 13 wins against 11 losses. On April 26, 1990, Smiley threw a complete game against the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

in 87 pitches, of which 73 were strikes, which remains a major league record for strike percentage in a single game. He allowed three hits and a single run, and struck out six batters, facing only three above the minimum."Pittsburgh Pirates at San Francisco Giants Box Score, April 26, 1990"
/ref> Smiley was a two time All-Star: as a Pirate in , a season in which Smiley led the National League with twenty wins and finished third in the Cy Young Award balloting; and in with the Reds, a season in which he had twelve wins and five losses. In August 1995, Smiley surrendered a home run to Braves pitcher

Tom Glavine Thomas Michael Glavine (born March 25, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, for the Atlanta Braves (1987–2002, 2008) and New York Mets (2003–2007). With 164 victories durin ...

— the only homer Glavine hit in his major league career. Shortly after, he was traded to the Indians by the Reds with Jeff Branson for

Jim Crowell James Everette Crowell (born May 14, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds (), Philadelphia Phillies (), and Florida Marlins (). Crowell attended Valparai ...

Danny Graves Daniel Peter Graves (born August 7, 1973) is a Vietnamese-born American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Born to a Vietnamese mother and an American serviceman father, he is the only Vietnam-born player in the history of the major leagues a ...

Damian Jackson Damian Jacques Jackson (born August 16, 1973) is a former major league second baseman who played 11 seasons for nine Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. He batted and threw right-handed. Early life Jackson grew up in Los Angeles, but moved to N ...

and Scott Winchester. In 1997, Smiley broke his left humerus while warming up for a start; the injury ended his baseball career.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
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Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smiley, John 1965 births Living people Baseball players from Pennsylvania Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Indians players Gulf Coast Pirates players Macon Pirates players Major League Baseball pitchers Minnesota Twins players National League All-Stars National League wins champions Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela People from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Pirates players Prince William Pirates players Sportspeople from Chester County, Pennsylvania

Early life

Career

See also

References

External links