Charley Smith (infielder)

Charley Smith
Charley Smith
	Infielder
	Born: December 11, 1840; Brooklyn, New York
	Died: November 15, 1897 (aged 56); Great Neck, New York
	Batted: Unknown Threw: Unknown
MLB debut
	May 18, 1871, for the New York Mutuals
Last MLB appearance
	August 1, 1871, for the New York Mutuals
MLB statistics
Batting average	.264
Runs scored	15
Runs batted in	5
	Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
	National Association of Base Ball Players Brooklyn Atlantics (1858–1870) National Association of Professional BBP New York Mutuals (1871)

Charles J. Smith (December 11, 1840 – November 15, 1897) was a Major League Baseball infielder. He played in 14 games for the New York Mutuals in 1871, hitting .264 in 72 at bats.

In the pre-professional era of early baseball, Smith played for the amateur Brooklyn Enterprise until 1858, when he joined the Brooklyn Atlantics, for whom he played until 1870. The Atlantics were one of the premiere clubs active in the sport's Amateur Era, which pre-dated the advent of paid professionalism.

Smith's name was alternately spelled "Charley" and "Charlie" in the press.

Smith's 1897 obit in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle included the following: "Smith was regarded as the premier third baseman. He had a quick eye, fearlessly faced the swiftly batted balls, which then contained much more rubber than those now in use, and captured difficult fly balls in a graceful manner. He was also a remarkably accurate thrower, a splendid batsman and a dashing base runner. The late Harry Wright said once in speaking about Charlie [sic] Smith: 'Undoubtedly, he was the king of third baseman.'"^[1]

Another obit, in the Brooklyn Daily Times, reported, "Up to the day that he died, Charlie Smith's crooked fingers bore eloquent testimony to many a hot grounder that he had gathered in and many a foul ball fly that he had nipped. He was practically invincible in his position at third." ^[2]

References

^ Brooklyn Daily Eagle, November 28, 1897, as quoted at Threads of Our Game, a site devoted to baseball uniforms of the 19th century.
^ Brooklyn Daily Times, November 18, 1897, as reproduced in Nineteenth Century Notes, Winter 2025, published by the Nineteenth Century Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research.

Sources

Baseball Reference

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[1] Brooklyn Daily Eagle, November 28, 1897, as quoted at Threads of Our Game, a site devoted to baseball uniforms of the 19th century.

[2] Brooklyn Daily Times, November 18, 1897, as reproduced in Nineteenth Century Notes, Winter 2025, published by the Nineteenth Century Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research.

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