Charles Edwin Smith (April 20, 1880 – January 3, 1929) was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

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) ...

who played from through for the Cleveland Bronchos (1902), Washington Senators (1906–1909),

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 eig ...

(1909–1911) and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

(1911–1914). Listed at , 185 pounds, Smith batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His older brother,

Fred Smith Fred, Frederic, or Frederick Smith may refer to: In literature *Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead (1907–1975), British peer and biographer *Frederick Smith, 3rd Earl of Birkenhead (1936–1985), British peer and author * Frederick E. Smith ...

, was an infielder in the majors. Smith always was a bad-luck pitcher either due to injury or playing on a bad baseball team. He had a promising debut for Cleveland on August 6, 1902, defeating future Hall of Famer Rube Waddell and the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakl ...

, 5–4, at

League Park League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Dunham Street (now known as East 66th Street) and Lexington Avenue in the Hough neighborhood. It was built in 1891 as a wood ...

. Then, working with two days' rest, he shut out the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, 7–0, ending his rookie season with a 2–1 record in three starts. He spent three years in the minors before joining the Senators in 1906. In three seasons for Washington, he posted ERAs of 2.91, 2.61 and 2.41, but finished with negative records of 9–16, 10–20 and 6–12. In 1909 he went 6–12 with a 3.27 ERA for Washington, before being traded to the Red Sox for Doc Gessler late in the season. In three starts for Boston he went 3–0 with a 2.16 ERA, and resurfaced in 1910 going 11–6 with a 2.30 ERA. While pitching for the Cubs, he led the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

with six

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

wins in 1912. In a 10-year career, Smith posted a 66–87 record with a 2.81 ERA in 212 appearances, including 148 starts, 87

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pit ...

s, 10 shutouts, three saves, and innings of work. A fine control pitcher, he collected a 1.62

strikeout-to-walk ratio In baseball statistics, strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB) is a measure of a pitcher's ability to control pitches, calculated as strikeouts divided by bases on balls. A hit by pitch is not counted statistically as a walk, and therefore not counted ...

(570-to-353). Smith died at the age of 48 in Wickliffe, Ohio.

External links

Baseball Reference1902 Cleveland Bronchos season
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Charlie Boston Red Sox players Chicago Cubs players Cleveland Bronchos players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Cleveland 1880 births 1929 deaths Minor league baseball managers New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Atlanta Crackers players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players