George Smith (smithge04)

George Cornelius Smith

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 170 lb.
• School Michigan State University
• High School Gibbs High School (St. Petersburg)
• Debut August 4, 1963
• Final Game September 16, 1966
• Born July 7, 1937 in St. Petersburg, FL USA
• Died June 15, 1987 in St. Petersburg, FL USA

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Biographical Information

George Smith played four years in the majors, most notably serving as a regular on the Boston Red Sox in 1966.

Smith was born in 1937 in St. Petersburg, FL and attended Michigan State University. He played briefly with the minor league team in St. Petersburg in 1955, and then in 1958 signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers. Except for part of 1959 spent with a team in the Chicago White Sox organization, he played for Tigers minor league teams from 1958 to 1965.

In August 1963 the Tigers brought George up to play second base, and in the remainder of the season he appeared in 52 games, getting 171 at-bats. Jake Wood had been the regular second baseman for the first part of the season.

In 1964 George was mostly back in the minors, coming up to the Tigers for only 5 games as the Tigers used Jerry Lumpe at second base. Lumpe continued as the regular in 1965 while George was in 32 games for the Tigers.

He was traded to the Red Sox in the off-season. The Red Sox later traded their 1965 second baseman, Felix Mantilla, and George became the team's regular second baseman in 1966 under their manager, Hall of Fame second baseman Billy Herman. He played in the minors in 1967 and 1968.

He died of cancer at age 49.

He is not to be confused with a couple of other major leaguers of the same name, both of whom were pitchers. In addition, "George" was the real first name of a couple other major leaguers, remembered as Germany Smith and Heinie Smith.

Related Sites

• George Smith at the SABR Bio Project