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George Cornelius Smith
Detroit Tigers
Second Base
Born: July 7, 1937, St. Petersburg, FL
Signed: Signed as a free agent by the Detroit Tigers before the 1958 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1963-1965; Boston Red Sox 1966
Died: June 15, 1987, St. Petersburg, FL (age 49)
George Smith played professionally for 14 seasons, appearing in the major leagues for four seasons with the Tigers and Red Sox. After a successful few seasons with independent Indianapolis Clowns, the Tigers signed Smith and he'd toil away for five and half seasons in their minor league system. He made his debut in 1963, appearing in 52 games for the Tigers and taking over as their regular second baseman during the final two months of the season. He'd be back in the minor leagues for most of 1964 and 1965, appearing in only 37 games with the Tigers during those two years. Following the 1965 season, Smith was dealt to the Red Sox and he'd be their opening day and regular second baseman in 1966. Limited by injuries, he'd ultimately lose his job to rookie Mike Andrews and Smith appeared in his final major league game on September 17, 1966.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #515
This is the 31st of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March. We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room. Having wandered aimlessly among the dealer tables looking for binders with vintage commons, I decided to check to see if Uncle Dick's had refreshed their inventory following the December show, during which I had wiped out both their 1965 Topps binders. Much to my pleasant surprise, they had. This Smith card was $4 and was one of 49 commons purchased in my triumphant return to Uncle Dick's and his replenished neon green binders.
Depending on my ability to compose five posts a week on the cards acquired at this show, I should be completely caught up on this blog by mid-October. It's entirely feasible we complete our 1965 Topps set by the end of 2022, although nine of the remaining 12 cards needed are fairly expensive.
This is Smith's rookie card. The cartoon on the back amusingly displays Smith playing for the traveling Indianapolis Clowns, a non-affiliated, independent team. He played for the Clowns in 1956 and 1957, and with no statistics available and as the team was only semi-pro, Topps indicates within Smith's statistics he was "voluntarily retired" during those years.
1965 Season
Smith made the Tigers' opening day roster, but played sparingly in April and May. He'd spend the bulk of the summer playing for the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, not returning to the majors until late August. In 32 games with the Tigers, Smith batted .094 (5 for 53) with a home run. With the Chiefs, and as their regular second baseman, he played in 91 games and batted .259 with four home runs and 25 RBIs. On October 4th, Smith, George Thomas (#83) and Jackie Moore (#593) were traded to the Red Sox for Bill Monbouquette (#142).
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #483
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1965-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1967 Topps Stickers Boston Red Sox #12
10 - Smith non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/14/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #482 Bob Priddy - San Francisco Giants
Previous Card: #482 Bob Priddy - San Francisco Giants
Next Card: #484 Ron Perranoski - Los Angeles Dodgers
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