Charlie Smith (smithch01)
From BR Bullpen
Charles J. Smith
- Bats Unknown, Throws Unknown
- Weight 150 lb.
- Debut May 18, 1871
- Born December 11, 1840 in Brooklyn, NY USA
- Died November 15, 1897 in Great Neck, NY USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Charlie Smith had been playing with the Brooklyn Atlantics since he was 18. He, along with half the Brooklyn team ( Charlie Mills, Joe Start, Bob Ferguson, and Dickey Pearce) joined the new professional league with the New York Mutuals. But a .264 didn't cut it in a league where the hot corner was second only to second basemen in batting average. Especially when your fielding percentage is worse than any regular's except Levi Meyerle's (whose league leading 1200 OPS more than compensated.)
Smith left the team early, apparently having suffered a mental breakdown -- the first of many that will strike major league ballplayers who play in New York.
He was the second-oldest player on the 1871 New York Mutuals, at age 30, behind venerable Dickey Pearce who was 35 and presumably on the team because he was a legend.
