Chuck Smith (baseball)

He attended John Adams High School in Cleveland, Ohio and later Indiana State University. He was listed at 6 ft 1 in, 185 pounds during his playing days. Growing up, his idol was Satchel Paige.

He was originally drafted in the 30th round (772nd overall) in the 1989 draft by the Montreal Expos. He did not sign, but in 1991, the Houston Astros picked him up as an undrafted free agent.

Smith spent time in all levels of pro ball, including independent baseball and international baseball, as both a starter and reliever. He was a replacement player in spring training in 1995 during the MLB strike, and then had perhaps his best minor league season in 1995 with the South Bend Silver Hawks, going 10–10 with a 2.67 earned run average and 145 strikeouts in 167 innings pitched.

After years in the minors, he finally reached the major leagues at the age of 30 in 2000 with the Florida Marlins (to whom he'd been traded for Brant Brown). He had a successful major league debut on June 30: in six innings of work, he gave up six hits, struck out six and only allowed one earned run-a home run by Ron Gant in the first inning, which was also the first hit he allowed. He earned no decision in the game. He won his first game on July 27 of that year against the Atlanta Braves: in five innings of work, he walked four, struck out two, and gave up six hits but still managed a win. He completed his first game on September 23 against the Colorado Rockies-albeit a shortened, 7-inning game. He finished his rookie season with a 6–6 record and a 3.23 ERA.^[1] Smith received one vote in National League Rookie of the Year voting, tied with future league leaders Lance Berkman and Juan Pierre.^[2]

Described as being "...on top of his game when he moves his pitches around...with his incredible control", Smith "...smokes his fastball past hitters up high and induces pathetic ground balls with his low off-speed stuff."^{[citation needed]} He apparently lost some of that skill in 2001, as he went 5–5 with an ERA that jumped to 4.70 while he also gave up the 16th home run in Barry Bonds' record breaking 2001 season, when Bonds hit 73 homers. Smith played his final major league game on July 24, 2001.^[3]

In 2004, Smith pitched for the Richmond Braves and was tied with Alex Graman in leading the International League in strikeouts with 129.

Smith pitched for the Brother Elephants in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2006.

Smith went 11–11 with a 3.84 ERA in his major league career in 34 games started. He struck out 189 batters in 210+ innings. He gave up just 16 home runs in his career. He had a .136 average as a batter. He walked once and struck out 27 times in 66 at bats. As a fielder, he made three errors for a .935 fielding percentage.

After his time with the Marlins, he jumped around the minor leagues in the Rockies, Mets, Braves and Orioles farm systems. He finished his minor league career with an 89–76 record, and an ERA of 3.89.