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
Nice win. Took a while but we did it. Mookie with the key sac fly.
Padres lost to the Phillies, 3-0. Lead now at 2.5 games.
Braves are next to catch.
Do not play them again until late August in Atlanta. Maybe they will have cooled off by then. 1-2 against them so far this year. Dodgers not worried about Atlanta right now.
Freeland against Lauer tomorrow. Two lefties. No pitcher yet listed for the Rocks against Ohtani on Wednesday.
dePaula with 2 more hits yesterday. Now batting .302 with an .900 OPS. Time to move him up to AAA ?!
It was awesome to see Reggie on the field before the game with his good friend, Doc. Reggie Smith had a reputation early in his career for being intense, guarded, and sometimes angry, especially with the media and fans. But, as Bear explained, there’s important context there. A lot of writers at the time described him as “moody” or “difficult,” but many teammates and later historians felt he was more accurately serious, proud, and unwilling to play the smiling entertainer role some expected from athletes then. He was also extremely intelligent and thoughtful. That sometimes clashed with reporters looking for easy quotes and clubhouse comedy. He didn’t hide his frustration when he thought something was unfair. Tommy Lasorda once called him one of the smartest players he ever managed, even if Reggie could be intense enough to light the dugout air like a shorted-out transformer. He was Kike Hernadez-Like… only not as crazy! A lot of Dodgers fans from that era remember him less as “angry” and more as quietly dangerous: the switch-hitter with thunder in the bat and eyes that looked like he already knew how your at-bat was going to end. I loved watching Reggie.
I would let him “cook” until he gets that OPS above 1.000!
This team just has a different Vibe when the Wildman plays! … and everyone knows who that is – no one has to ask!
I remember Reggie. Opposing pitchers remember him too. Had Rockies with 3 right yesterday. Dodgers 3 for 12 WRISP against a not so good pitching staff. That needs improvement. Team with only 8 hits against a not so good Rockies staff. Betts 0fer. Again. Sheehan 6 and 2, 92 pitches. Good night for him but man he sure looks like he’s working hard out there. Tonight could be interesting. Both pitchers 1-5, Freeland with 7.04 ERA, Lauer 6.69. DePaula? I already traded him for Skenes. Might as well include Kim in that package. Let him fly around the bases in Pittsburgh. They might could use some excitement there, I thought the Pirates would be widdershins but a look at the standings finds them over .500. The NL Central has every team over .500. I find that surprising. And no team in the AL West is over .500. Weird.
You’re a good writer. Rare to see in this dark corner of the internet where bloated voices tend to dominate by sheer volume.
I remember those 4 – 30hr guys. I also remember Dusty declaring he was going to “Scald One!” I just read an article that explained Dave’s sitting Will Smith so he “Can get his swing straightened out.” Starting Rushing instead due to Smith’s offensive struggles. If you watch any Dodger podcast or a recent Dave Roberts interview the question being asked is why don’t they drop Mookie in the order. Dave says Mookie is not confident, his swing is not right, also says he’s pressing & trying too hard. Yet, he remains in the 2 hole. Dave sees what everyone sees, but he is the only one that can do something about it. Come on Dave take some pressure off, move him down or give him the same treatment as Will and give him a day off. To acknowledge a problem and do nothing to solve it is undefendable. Typically if a player is hitting the ball hard, locked in, but just hitting in bad luck leave him alone. But, Dave identified multiple issues with Mookie, yet there he sits at 2. I’ll come down off my soap box now.
I would move George up first, ONLY because I think he could be that late season call up, pinch runner/defender type in October, ala Justin Dean last year
Thanks, but I think I often need an editor. Don’t see the mistakes until later.
How does one straighten his swing out sitting on the bench? I keep reading that Mookie’s exit velocity is considered good. Savant has it at 91.2, above average but not great. So I asked AI “what is the average exit velocity of a MLB fly ball”, which Mookie hits a lot of, and was surprised to see it is 91-93 mph. With a bat speed listed as “ below average” and fly balls listed as league average, add in his 14th ranked OAA at short, Mookie, at this point in the season anyway, is an average MLB player with a BA markedly below the Mendoza line. Does any of that suggest a o#2 hitter in a top ranked offense? I don’t think so. So who should hit second? Old school, which I obviously am, says a left handed pull hitter with wheels. A contact hitter who can take advantage of the hole on the right side with Ohtani being held on at first and fast enough to stay out of a GDP. There is no hit and run in baseball anymore so that’s no longer in the calcs. It would be helpful if he’s kinda big to block the catcher’s view of the man on first and somewhat interferes with a throw to second. Who is that dude on the Dodgers. My gut, and the stats, say it isn’t Betts. Not presently anyway. I’m looking and Savant tells me there isn’t one that meets all of the criteria but spray charts say the answer is Tucker or Freeman, without the speed of course. Ohtani, Freeman, Pages, Tucker, Teo, pull the rest of the names out of a hat. Or flip Freeman and Tucker and pull 6 through 9 out of a hat. All that said, I think Doc likely leaves Betts where he is. ,
Tuesday Dodger Affiliates’ Schedule 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Sterling Patick) at Dayton [Reds] (Ovis Portes) 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Christian Romero) at Sugar Land [Astros] (TBA) 6:35 p.m.: Ontario (TBA) vs. Visalia [D-backs] (TBA) No Tuesday game for Tulsa after playing on Memorial Day. Tommy Edman is expected to start his rehab assignment for Oklahoma City today.
Ohtani fits your description of a #2 hitter.
Will Smith should bat second as he did in the last game of the World Series last year. Do all us remember what he did in that game?
Per Dodgers Daily: https://x.com/dodger_daily/status/2059084186040807683 Easton Shelton hit his Cal League-leading 10th HR of the season on Sunday, and I’m not sure it’s landed yet. When he gets hold of one, it goes for a RIDE! He also has his average up to .267, his OPS is .884 & he now has a 14-game hit streak. In that streak, he’s 22 for 56 (.392) with 3 doubles, 6 home runs & 19 RBIs in that span as well. Longenhagen (or maybe the other guy?) spoke highly of him in a chat. There’s actually some great progress being shown by the team’s IF prospects: Kellon Lindsey has reworked his swing and is now showing the benefits. Lindsey is hitting an eye-popping .455 with an OPS of 1.213, he has hits in 8 games in a row & he’s 18 for his last 37 with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 8 RBIs and 9 runs scored in that span. Beyond those two, the previously discussed Harlan and glove-first Noah Miller have really improved their plate discipline. Finally there’s the all-star of GREAT names, Mairoshendrick Martinus AKA Mairoshendrick Nathan Jackson Martinus, who also has retooled his swing and showing good power. Plus he’s playing 3B as well now. That said, Morales is fighting it a bit, over the last ten games….. 20 SO!
George got injured by a dog.
I’m with you Badger, I don’t think Doc will move Mookie down in the order. But as I said yesterday, I would for now. Maybe Edman is the guy for the 2 hole? Freddie would not be my pick as he’s best when he’s using left field. Smith is a thought. Wash my mouth out with soap but after multiple failed situational hitting a bunt is in order to advance runners?
YES! As per the excellent Eric Stephen: Leadoff man Kendall George batted three times in those first two innings, and scored the 14th Tulsa run of the game, but in doing so appeared to get injured while trying to avoid a bat-retrieving dog near the Drillers dugout. George came out of the game after that, replaced in center field by Chris Newell. Check out the inconclusive video on the lamentable BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/jaredjmassey.bsky.social/post/3mmppym6ri22l
Bear, this is one of your best. The Marichal lobbying detail at the end of the Roseboro piece you ran in '23 is still the thing I send people when they ask me why I read this site.
Payroll vs. performance — Reggie was making something like $300K in 1978 dollars. Adjust for inflation and he's a $4M player today. We are paying utility infielders that now.
Personal anecdote — Reggie ran a hitting clinic in Encino when I was 14. The first thing he told me was "your hands aren't slow, your eyes are." Changed how I watched pitchers for the rest of my life.