Hilton Smith, baseball player, Final season: 1948

Hilton Smith

⭐ Hall of Fame 2001

Born: 2/27/1907 in Giddings, TX, USA

Died: 11/18/1983 in Kansas City, MO, USA

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'2" | Weight: 180 lbs

Full name: Hilton Lee Smith

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Biography

Hilton Smith, born in 1907, was a significant figure in the history of baseball, particularly recognized for his contributions during the era of the Negro Leagues. Although his official Major League Baseball statistics reflect no recorded games, hits, or runs, Smith's legacy is firmly established through his remarkable talent and the impact he made as a position player. He played from 1948 until his retirement, becoming a role model for many aspiring athletes in a time when racial integration was beginning to reshape the landscape of American sports. Smith was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, a testament to his remarkable skill and resilience in a sport that often overlooked players of color during his early career. His legacy is preserved not only in his absence of traditional statistics but also in the stories and histories of the Negro Leagues, where he showcased his extraordinary abilities. Hilton Smith remains an important figure in baseball history, representing the perseverance and talent of players who laid the groundwork for future generations.

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
610.0 583.0 61.0 191.0 37.0 5.0 5.0 84.0 17.0 4.0 4.0 0.328 0.346 0.434 0.780

Pitching

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
217.0 0 0 177.0 106.0 0 0 0.0 1218.0 568.0 196.0 18.0 0 0 1.17

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1936 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1937 97.0 93.0 7.0 32.0 6.0 0 1.0 13.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 0.344 0.351 0.441 0.792
1938 78.0 75.0 11.0 30.0 7.0 0 3.0 14.0 2.0 0 0 0.400 0.416 0.613 1.029
1939 53.0 51.0 2.0 12.0 1.0 1.0 0 6.0 0 0 0 0.235 0.231 0.294 0.525
1940 31.0 30.0 2.0 15.0 4.0 1.0 0 5.0 0 0 0 0.500 0.500 0.700 1.200
1941 44.0 41.0 7.0 17.0 7.0 0 0 7.0 3.0 0 0 0.415 0.455 0.585 1.040
1942 46.0 45.0 6.0 15.0 3.0 0 0 3.0 1.0 0 0 0.333 0.348 0.400 0.748
1943 64.0 63.0 11.0 18.0 3.0 2.0 0 9.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 0.286 0.297 0.397 0.694
1944 37.0 34.0 2.0 9.0 0 0 0 1.0 3.0 0 0 0.265 0.324 0.265 0.589
1945 46.0 42.0 2.0 10.0 1.0 0 0 6.0 2.0 0 1.0 0.238 0.273 0.262 0.535
1946 53.0 50.0 4.0 17.0 3.0 0 0 11.0 2.0 0 1.0 0.340 0.358 0.400 0.758
1947 37.0 36.0 3.0 9.0 1.0 0 1.0 5.0 1.0 0 0 0.250 0.270 0.361 0.631
1948 24.0 23.0 4.0 7.0 1.0 1.0 0 4.0 1.0 0 0 0.304 0.333 0.435 0.768

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Season W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
1936 3.0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.0 5.0 3.0 0 0 0 0 0.00
1937 32.0 0 0 21.0 12.0 0 0 0.0 141.0 46.0 33.0 2.0 0 0 1.51
1938 14.0 0 0 17.0 11.0 0 0 0.0 137.0 59.0 22.0 3.0 0 0 1.28
1939 24.0 0 0 18.0 12.0 0 0 0.0 122.0 50.0 24.0 1.0 0 0 1.27
1940 15.0 0 0 8.0 5.0 0 0 0.0 57.0 32.0 4.0 1.0 0 0 0.49
1941 17.0 0 0 15.0 9.0 0 0 0.0 88.0 35.0 9.0 2.0 0 0 0.58
1942 23.0 0 0 11.0 6.0 0 0 0.0 105.0 57.0 13.0 2.0 0 0 1.01
1943 9.0 0 0 12.0 6.0 0 0 0.0 71.0 34.0 10.0 0 0 0 1.00
1944 22.0 0 0 14.0 6.0 0 0 0.0 91.0 50.0 20.0 0 0 0 1.94
1945 16.0 0 0 17.0 12.0 0 0 0.0 93.0 47.0 8.0 3.0 0 0 0.60
1946 16.0 0 0 20.0 12.0 0 0 0.0 122.0 36.0 15.0 1.0 0 0 0.86
1947 11.0 0 0 14.0 12.0 0 0 0.0 122.0 64.0 18.0 1.0 0 0 1.40
1948 15.0 0 0 9.0 3.0 0 0 0.0 64.0 55.0 20.0 2.0 0 0 2.24

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
71 38 170 104 63 8 16 975.3 883 318 19 198 628 2.93 0

Career ERA 2.93 vs. league average 3.98 across their career seasons — 26.3% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1932 MRM NSL 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 5.7 6 3 0 2 4.76 — 0.0
1936 KCM IND 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 2.0 5 2 3 2 9.00 — 0.0
1937 KCM NAL 11 4 20 16 9 3 0 128.3 84 24 27 97 1.68 4.34 (+61%) 5981.0
1937 CAG NAL 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2.0 1 0 0 2 0.00 — 0.0
1938 KCM NAL 9 2 19 11 7 1 1 112.7 102 26 12 88 2.08 4.35 (+52%) 6053.1
1939 KCM NAL 6 4 21 12 6 1 4 105.3 82 31 19 84 2.65 4.28 (+38%) 5473.0
1940 KCM NAL 4 4 16 7 4 0 3 64.3 53 27 15 64 3.78 4.21 (+10%) 3671.3
1941 KCM NAL 10 0 15 8 7 2 3 92.3 72 17 11 67 1.66 3.94 (+58%) 4576.4
1942 KCM NAL 5 4 14 7 5 0 2 85.0 91 36 19 53 3.81 3.57 (-7%) 2731.3
1943 KCM NAL 3 2 10 6 3 1 0 60.0 49 17 10 29 2.55 3.50 (+27%) 2002.9
1944 KCM NAL 2 5 9 6 3 0 1 49.7 45 19 17 18 3.44 3.57 (+4%) 746.0
1945 KCM NAL 6 4 11 8 6 0 0 77.0 76 28 19 42 3.27 3.67 (+11%) 1807.9
1946 KCM NAL 4 2 8 6 3 0 1 51.7 40 8 10 16 1.39 3.59 (+61%) 1034.0
1947 KCM NAL 7 4 13 8 6 0 0 75.7 105 49 15 25 5.83 3.97 (-47%) 1690.2
1948 KCM NAL 4 2 11 7 4 0 0 63.7 72 31 21 39 4.38 4.10 (-7%) 1790.8

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
256 542 55 163 28 5 6 88 3 22 2 0.301 0.327 0.404 0.731 -145.8

Career AVG .301 vs. league average .266 across their career seasons — +13.0% above league average.

Career OBP .327 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .404 vs. league average .376 across their career seasons — +7.5% above league average.

Career OPS 0.731 vs. league average 0.711 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1932 MRM NSL 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1936 KCM IND 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1937 KCM NAL 25 59 4 18 2 0 1 7 1 1 2 0.305 .276 (+10%) .342 (-8%) .398 (-2%) .740 (-5%) -55.9
1937 CAG NAL 4 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.143 — — — — -55.9
1938 KCM NAL 26 68 9 25 6 0 3 13 1 2 0 0.368 .272 (+35%) .341 (+13%) .392 (+50%) .734 (+33%) 342.1
1939 KCM NAL 26 52 3 9 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0.173 .274 (-37%) .342 (-46%) .393 (-46%) .735 (-46%) -429.7
1940 KCM NAL 19 30 2 14 4 1 0 7 0 1 0 0.467 — — — — 0.0
1941 KCM NAL 16 40 6 13 5 0 0 8 0 3 0 0.325 — — — — 0.0
1942 KCM NAL 18 45 6 15 2 0 0 6 0 2 0 0.333 — — — — 0.0
1943 KCM NAL 26 62 8 16 3 2 0 9 0 5 0 0.258 .255 (+1%) .324 (-4%) .346 (+7%) .671 (+2%) -2.2
1944 KCM NAL 20 32 2 8 0 0 1 3 0 3 0 0.250 — — — — 0.0
1945 KCM NAL 20 39 2 10 1 0 0 8 1 1 0 0.256 — — — — 0.0
1946 KCM NAL 16 33 4 13 2 0 0 10 0 1 0 0.394 — — — — 0.0
1947 KCM NAL 24 44 3 12 1 0 1 10 0 1 0 0.273 — — — — 0.0
1948 KCM NAL 13 28 6 9 2 1 0 5 0 1 0 0.321 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
11 22 3 7 2 0 0 0 1 0 0.318

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1948 ALC KCM 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1946 NWS KCM 3 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.167
1942 NWS KCM 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
1939 ALC KCM 3 6 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.333
1937 ALC KCM 3 7 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.429

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
6 0 9 5 1 47.7 52 7 12 50 1.32

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1946 NWS KCM 1 0 2 2 0 14.0 15 2 3 12 1.29
1942 NWS KCM 1 0 1 1 0 5.0 5 0 2 2 0.00
1939 ALC KCM 2 0 3 1 1 13.7 13 1 3 19 0.66
1937 ALC KCM 2 0 3 1 0 15.0 19 4 4 17 2.40

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 1 0 3 0 0 0
OF 27 18 20 1 2 0
P 170 104 39 277 15 11

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1932 MRM P 1 1 0 2 0 0
1936 KCM P 1 1 0 0 0 0
1937 KCM P 20 16 5 46 4 2
1937 CAG 1B 1 0 3 0 0 0
1937 CAG OF 1 1 2 0 0 0
1937 CAG P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1938 KCM OF 6 4 4 1 1 0
1938 KCM P 19 11 6 41 0 2
1939 KCM OF 2 1 2 0 0 0
1939 KCM P 21 12 5 28 2 0
1940 KCM P 16 7 4 16 0 0
1941 KCM OF 1 1 1 0 0 0
1941 KCM P 15 8 5 29 0 1
1942 KCM OF 1 1 1 0 0 0
1942 KCM P 14 7 1 20 2 1
1943 KCM OF 12 8 3 0 1 0
1943 KCM P 10 6 3 15 2 0
1944 KCM OF 2 1 3 0 0 0
1944 KCM P 9 6 0 15 4 0
1945 KCM P 11 8 2 17 0 1
1946 KCM OF 1 1 2 0 0 0
1946 KCM P 8 6 3 17 1 2
1947 KCM P 13 8 4 19 0 2
1948 KCM OF 1 0 2 0 0 0
1948 KCM P 11 7 1 12 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 170
First Base 1
Left Field 11
Center Field 1
Right Field 15