#62 Hal Smith - Baltimore Orioles

Harold Wayne Smith
Baltimore Orioles
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  195
Born:  December 7, 1930, West Frankfort, IL
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  Baltimore Orioles 1955-1956; Kansas City Athletics 1956-1959; Pittsburgh Pirates 1960-1961; Houston Colt .45s 1962-1963; Cincinnati Reds 1964

Hal Smith spent 10 seasons in the Majors catching for the Orioles, Athletics, Pirates, Colt .45s and Reds, and he holds the distinction of being the first catcher in Houston Colt .45s/Astros history.

Smith deserves credit for making Bill Mazeroski's game-winning home run in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series against the Yankees possible.  Smith had entered the game in the eighth, after starting catcher Smoky Burgess (#192) had been pinch-run for the previous inning.  With the Pirates trailing 7-6, Smith hit a three-run home off pitcher Jim Coates to give the Pirates a 9-7 lead.  The Yankees would tie the game in the top of the ninth, but then Mazeroski hit his famous shot off Ralph Terry to give the Pirates the title.

Smith came to the Orioles in November 1954 in the 17-player trade I discussed with the Bob Turley (#40) post.  In 879 career games, he hit .267 with 58 home runs and 323 RBIs.

Building the Set
August 19, 2000 in Raleigh, NC - Card #203
This Hal Smith shouldn't be confused with the other Hal Smith (#283) also in the 1956 Topps set.  Both were catchers, complicating things somewhat, but this Hal Smith is commonly shown as Hal W. Smith in checklists while the other Hal Smith shows up as Hal R. Smith.  I don't think I realized there were two Hal Smiths in the set until I alphabetized our checklist, which made it easier to check if we needed a card when a dealer's boxes were out of order.

1956 Topps #283

Something that's perhaps only amusing to me is that I purchased both Hal Smith cards needed for our set at the same time from the same dealer at the Sports Card Show in Raleigh.  I decided I wanted to purchase both cards together, and if I found one in decent shape I waited until I had found the second in decent shape as well.  Having found both Hal Smith cards in an out-of-order box of 1956 Topps commons, I approached the dealer and asked him for a price for the pair.  He did somewhat of a double take when he realized both cards bore the name Hal Smith and he looked at me quizzically.

Without missing a beat, and without cracking a smile, I told him, "I collect only Hal Smith cards."  He continued his stare for a few more seconds and then said, "$15 for both of them."  And with that, both Hal Smith cards entered our 1956 Topps set.

The Card
As I'm tracking the color combinations used for the name and team boxes, this is the first red-orange color combination to be found in the set.  It works well for the Orioles.

The third panel on the back reference Smith's "great pegs," but he finished fourth in the A.L. in 1955 in runners caught stealing with 23 and he led the league in passed balls with 14.  He'd lead the league again in passed balls in 1957.  I'm questioning his "great pegs" distinction even more once I saw the league leaders for stolen bases allowed in 1956 (see below).

1956 Season
Smith started the season with the Orioles but then was traded to the Athletics on August 17th for Joe Ginsberg, in a swap of catchers.  In total, he appeared in 114 games, hitting .267 with five home runs and 42 RBIs.  Despite his challenges with passed balls in 1955 and 1957 mentioned above, Smith actually was second in the A.L. among catchers with a .991 fielding percentage.  However, he led the league in stolen bases allowed with 43, with no other catcher even close.  Yogi Berra (#110) finished a distant second in that category with 26 stolen bases allowed.

1955 Topps #8

1959 Topps #227

1961 Topps #242

1963 Topps #153

1964 Topps #233

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #8
First Topps Card:  1955 Topps #8
Last Topps Card:  1964 Topps #233
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1980 TCMA 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates #37
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10):  1955-1964

Smith appeared in Topps flagship sets between 1955 and 1964, but Topps only added the "W" middle initial to his 1961 card.

52 - Smith non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/20/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

Previous Card / Next Card

Set Order: #61 Bill Skowron - New York Yankees / #63 Roger Craig - Brooklyn Dodgers

Order Collected: #205 "Whitey" Lockman - New York Giants / #283 Hal Smith - St. Louis Cardinals