Roy Frederick Smalley III (born October 25, 1952) is a former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

, who played in

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) from 1975 through 1987 for the Texas Rangers (1975–76), Minnesota Twins (1976–82; 1985–87),

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

(1982–84), and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

(1984). Smalley was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. His father, Roy Jr. was also an MLB league shortstop, and his uncle, Gene Mauch was a long-time MLB

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 ...

and infielder.

Amateur career

Drafted out of Westchester High School in Los Angeles in 1970 by the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

, Smalley played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for one year at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campu ...

, then transferred to the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. He was part of the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

and

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

championship teams under longtime head coach

Rod Dedeaux Raoul Martial "Rod" Dedeaux (February 17, 1914 – January 5, 2006) was an American college baseball coach who compiled what is widely recognized as among the greatest records of any coach in the sport's amateur history. Dedeaux was the head bas ...

. Smalley was named an All-American and received All-College World Series honors in 1973. He was drafted four times by major league teams between 1970 and 1973 without signing. Smalley was selected by the

in the 35th round of the June 1970 draft, by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

in the 4th round of the January 1971 draft, by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in the 2nd round on the June 1971 draft, and again by the Red Sox in the 5th round of the January 1972 draft. Smalley was the number one overall pick in the January 1974 amateur draft by the Rangers. Following his junior year, he stayed out of school in the fall of 1973 to be eligible for the January free agent draft.

Professional career

Rangers

After signing in January, Smalley had wrist surgery in February, injured while playing

semi-pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tier ...

ball in December. He was sent to the Pittsfield Rangers in the Double-A Eastern League where he held his own, hitting .251 with 14 home runs and 42 RBI as a 21-year-old straight out of college. Following a brief stint with the Triple-A

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

in the Pacific Coast League, Smalley was promoted to the big leagues for good, seeing time in 78 games for the Rangers in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, despite hitting only .228 with 3 home runs.Roy Smalley
at ''Baseball-Reference'' Smalley started the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

season back in Texas, but did not improve on his 1975 average. On June 1, his career would take a major corner.

Twins

Under the ownership tenure of Calvin Griffith, the Minnesota Twins made few headlines in the transaction department, but Smalley's arrival and departure from the Twins both involved blockbuster trades. On June 1,

, Smalley was traded to the Twins, along with Texas infielder Mike Cubbage, pitchers Jim Gideon and

Bill Singer William Robert Singer (born April 24, 1944) is an American former professional baseball pitcher with a 14-year career from 1964 to 1977. He played primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1964–72) and the California Angels (1973–75), spending h ...

and cash, for Twins' ace

Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 to 1992, primarily with the Minnesota Twins. Blyleven recorded 3,701 ...

and shortstop

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mart ...

, who was battling

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

. Smalley was inserted into the Twins' starting lineup and manned shortstop until 1982. During his first go around with the Twins, Smalley developed into an all-star. Smalley's best season came in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, when he was voted the starting shortstop for the American League in the All-Star game. Smalley had a sensational first half of the season, entering the break with the second-highest batting average in the major leagues (.341). Though he tailed off in the second half, Smalley established career highs in runs, RBIs, and home runs, and was named the shortstop on ''The Sporting News'' AL All-Star team. He also led the league in games played, plate appearances, all fielders in assists, and all shortstops in putouts, while hitting .271 and leading the team with 24 home runs and 95 RBI. He did not build on this season with the Twins, as injuries struck, and he played only 133 games in 1980 and 56 in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Yankees and White Sox

After showing that he'd recovered from his injuries, Smalley was traded in 1982 on April 10 to the

Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

for pitchers Ron Davis and Paul Boris and shortstop Greg Gagne. With the Yankees, Smalley showed a glimpse of the player he had been in 1979, hitting 20 home runs in 1982 and 18 in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

. He was not as good defensively, however. Yankee pitcher

Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, ...

thought he was best as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

. "He had no range at short. No range at all. He was bad news for a pitching staff," opined John, who had benefitted from the fine defense of

Bucky Dent Russell Earl "Bucky" Dent (born Russell Earl O'Dey; November 25, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager. He earned two World Series rings as the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978 and ...

for the past several years. John did note that Smalley was a much better hitter than Dent. After a bad start to the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

season, in which he hit only .239 with 7 home runs and 26 RBI over the first 67 games of the season, Smalley was traded again, this time to the

White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

for middle reliever

Kevin Hickey Kevin John Hickey (February 25, 1956 – May 16, 2012) was an American left-handed pitcher who spent six seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Chicago White Sox (1981–1983) and Baltimore Orioles (1989–1991). It was with the White ...

and future Pittsburgh Pirates Cy Young and 155-game winner

Doug Drabek Douglas Dean Drabek (born July 25, 1962) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and current Pitching Coach for the Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He played for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, ...

Back to the Twins

Smalley was a member of Minnesota's

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

World Championship team. He hit .275 with 8 home runs and 34 RBI in 110 games in his last major league season.

Career summary

In a 13-season career, Smalley posted a .257

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 163

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 694 RBI in 1653 games played.

Post-playing career

He was inducted in the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.Sports Standouts
''USC Trojan Family Magazine'', Spring 2007, Accessed May 21, 2010. Smalley now works for Bally Sports North as an analyst during Minnesota Twins games. In 2010, Smalley opened a restaurant near

Target Field Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. The stadium hos ...

, called Smalley's '87 Club, which closed in February 2012. Smalley serves as the President on the Board of Directors for the

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Pitch in for Baseball. He was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013.

References

External links

Roy Smalley III
at Baseball Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Smalley, Roy Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball designated hitters Chicago White Sox players Minnesota Twins players New York Yankees players Texas Rangers players Pittsfield Rangers players Spokane Indians players American League All-Stars USC Trojans baseball players Baseball players from Los Angeles 1952 births Living people Major League Baseball broadcasters Minnesota Twins announcers All-American college baseball players Westchester High School (Los Angeles) alumni National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Anchorage Glacier Pilots players