Remembering: Reggie Smith
Carl Reginald Smith was born on April 2nd, 1945, in Shreveport Louisiana. His father played in the Negro Leagues; his mother was a gifted musician.
Carl Reginald Smith was born on April 2nd, 1945, in Shreveport, Louisiana. His father, a former Negro League ballplayer, moved the family west when Reggie was still a boy. His mother — a gifted musician — gave him the metronome that would later show up in every stride at the plate.
From Centennial High to Boston
Reggie signed with the Minnesota Twins out of L.A.'s Centennial High School in 1963. He was a slick-fielding shortstop then — fast hands, a quicker first step. By the time the Red Sox plucked him off the Twins' Triple-A roster in the 1966 first-year draft, he had moved to second base. By 1967, the year the Impossible Dream Red Sox went to the World Series, he was their everyday center fielder, and a damn good one.
"He could beat you four ways. He could hit, he could run, he could throw, and he could think." — Tommy Lasorda
To the Dodgers
The June 15, 1976 trade that sent Reggie from St. Louis to Los Angeles for Joe Ferguson and two minor leaguers is, in hindsight, one of Al Campanis' best. Smith hit .307 with 32 home runs in 1977, then again clubbed 29 with a .382 OBP in 1978. Both years the Dodgers reached the World Series. Both years they lost to the Yankees.
The 1980 injury
A torn rotator cuff in September of 1980 effectively ended his Dodger career. He played one more season as a part-timer in San Francisco, then walked away. He coached in the Dodger system, ran a successful baseball academy in Encino, and — most importantly to the men who played for him — taught a generation of L.A. kids how to think their way through an at-bat.
If you grew up watching the late-70s Dodgers, you knew Reggie. And if you knew Reggie, you remember the swing — flat, fast, perfectly balanced — and the bigger thing it taught us: that style and substance, in baseball as in life, are not opposites.
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Discussion (57)
Disagree, not disagreeable
These are the Dog Daze
Great writeup, Bear. One quibble — the 1980 injury was technically a torn labrum, not rotator cuff. Doesn't change the story but the surgery in '80 was the first labrum repair I remember a Dodger getting.
MLB transactions update — Muncy day-to-day with the wrist, expected back by Tuesday. Gonsolin throwing live BP Wednesday. May still on track for a June rehab assignment.
Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edgardo Henriquez was a catcher earlier in his career.
Too soon
10:10 PM ET Rockies (20-35) Dodgers (34-20) SP Kyle Freeland L 1-5 7.04 ERA SP Eric Lauer L 1-5 6.69 ERA Confirmed Lineup DH S. Ohtani L CF Andy Pages R 1B F. Freeman L SS Mookie Betts R RF Kyle Tucker L LF T. Hernandez R C Will Smith R 2B Miguel Rojas R 3B E. Hernandez R 63° Wind 11 mph Out Thet finally listened and moved Mookie down in the order.
Reggie Smith was definitely my favorite player on those 70’s teams and their best player. that 1980 season was cut short by an injury and he was raking at the time. He had to get stitches after an argument with Derrel Thomas. He punched a cooler. He then injured his throwing shoulder later in the season. Speaking of injury. I saw a video of Kendall George getting injured avoiding the bat dog that took off to retrieve the bat at home plate while George was returning to the dugout after scoring.
“Max Muncy is currently day-to-day with a right wrist injury after being hit by a pitch on May 22, 2026.Initial X-rays were negative for a fracture, providing optimism that he avoided a long-term injury. As of May 26, 2026, he has missed four consecutive games but is showing progress:Recovery Progress: Muncy has seen reduced swelling and has been observed playing catch and taking ground balls at third base while wearing a protective wrist guard.Next Steps: He was expected to begin swinging a bat again on Tuesday, May 26. Target Return: Manager Dave Roberts expressed optimism that Muncy could return to the starting lineup as early as Wednesday, May 27, for the series finale against the Colorado Rockies.While the Dodgers have not yet placed him on the Injured List (IL), they remain cautious and haven’t completely ruled out a brief IL stint if his recovery stalls. In his absence, the team activated Kiké Hernández and utilized Miguel Rojas to cover third base”.
Thanks for the Reggie Smith piece, Bear.. I learned a lot… Loved him and his arm in RF for the Dodgers, and also at the plate. That was a good era for Dodgers baseball, with that quartet hitting 30 HRs. I wonder whether Boston’s racial issues were a factor in Mookie’s exit–something that still haunts Red Sox fans…. Case in point: Up in Maine, Senate candidate Graham Platner, running against incumbent fossil Susan Collins, ran a TV ad during a Red Sox broadcast. Maine roots for the Red Sox, and Platner’s ad including a shot at Red Sox ownership and even said something like, “Mookie never should have been traded.” Or whatever… YEARS after the trade! ..I haven’t seen it, but it sounds funny–and ownership refused to air it a second time! That’s the report I heard, anyway….
From Associated Press…. PORTLAND, Maine — Graham Platner, Maine’s presumptive Democratic Senate nominee, began Memorial Day weekend by releasing an ad on the cable station that airs Boston Red Sox games accusing team owners of ruining the storied franchise. He then ended it by criticizing the team’s ownership for pulling the critical message from the air. It was a move designed to appeal to the team’s devoted fanbase and provoke its wealthy ownership. And within hours of the network’s decision, Platner has been all too eager to capitalize on the removal, using it to push his populist message as he campaigns to unseat longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine. “We ran an ad during last night’s Red Sox game exposing how private equity is making everything in our lives worse, and it got pulled midway through the game by a station owned by Red Sox ownership,” Platner said in a statement on Saturday. “And of course, the Red Sox blew a 4-0 lead to lose the game.” Platner’s 15-second ad about the Red Sox includes the oyster farmer promising to “reverse the private equity curse” if elected and stating that he missed Mookie Betts, a nod to the simmering rage that Boston fans have held after FSG traded the homegrown superstar to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. (“Reverse the curse” was a popular slogan among Red Sox fans in the 1990s and 2000s that referred to the team’s long-running failure to win a World Series prior to 2004.) It also accuses private equity of “buying up our homes, our sports and our lives” while referencing a March 2021 Axios report detailing that RedBird Capital Partners, a private equity firm, would have an 11% stake in FSG.
Pedro? Yes, he was. Years ago, the Cardinals had a pitcher who became an outfielder.
Damn mutt!
They did that in the World Series, and it worked.
Your welcome Duke. Isn’t it amazing the number of outstanding arms the Dodgers had playing in right field? First, it was Furillo, called the Reading Rifle. They had signed Clemente but lost him in the rule 5 draft. Then Reggie came along, and Joe Ferguson, who also had a rifle arm and made one of the more memorable World Series throws ever. Then Reggie, Mondesi, and of course, Puig, who had an absolute cannon out there. Just did not know where he would throw all the time. Mookie in his couple of years out there has 54 assists as a right fielder. Pages also has a cannon, and I have to believe that at some point, he will move to right.
I was at Dodger Stadium that last game of the 77 season. Dusty hit his 30th off of JR Richard. LA lost 6-3 that day. Two other Dodgers hit their only homers of the year that day, Manny Mota, and Glenn Burke.
This is dangerously close to blowing up this blog. No response is warranted.
Kendall George…
Is Mookie the smallest #4 hitter ever?
Mookie dropped in the order… and it worked!
That’s not Reggie’s picture though on the home page. Leron Lee? Not sure who that is for sure.
Doc must be a Freaking Genius! Kike? Now we understand!
It’s styled to look like Reggie Smith as a Dodger, but it’s AI-generated and not guaranteed to be an exact authentic likeness. The jersey era, mustache, batting stance, and overall vibe are very “Reggie Smith 1977-81 Dodgers,” but AI sometimes blends facial features like a baseball card in a washing machine.
Is this guy Freeland really a major league pitcher?
Who knew it was all Roberts fault for batting Mookie 2nd and not cleanup!
Gotcha