Carl Reginald Smith (born April 2, 1945) is a former
Major League Baseball outfielder, coach and front office executive. During a 17-year big league career (1966–1982), Smith appeared in 1,987 games, hit 314
home runs and
batted .287. He was a
switch-hitter who threw right-handed. In his prime, he had one of the strongest throwing arms of any outfielder in the big leagues. Smith played at least 70 games in 13 different seasons, and in every one of those 13 seasons, his team had a winning record.
Smith grew up in
Los Angeles, California. He won the
International League batting title in 1966 with a .320 average while playing for the
Toronto Maple Leafs. He was called up to the major leagues late in that season and played for the
Boston Red Sox (-73),
St. Louis Cardinals (1974–76),
Los Angeles Dodgers (1976–81) and
San Francisco Giants (1982). Smith appeared in four
World Series, including during his rookie 1967
season for the Red Sox, and three (
1977,
1978 and
1981) for the Dodgers. He hit three home runs in the 1977 series.
In the 1978 season, Dodger pitcher
Don Sutton went public with comments that Smith was a more valuable player to the Dodgers than the more-celebrated
Steve Garvey. This led to an infamous clubhouse wrestling match between Sutton and Garvey.
In the season as a member of the Dodgers, Smith was taunted by
Giants fan Michael Dooley, who then threw a batting helmet at him. Smith then jumped into the stands at
Candlestick Park and started punching him. He...
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