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Willie Smith
Chicago Cubs
Outfield
Born: February 11, 1939, Anniston, AL
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1963; Los Angeles Angels 1964-65; California Angels 1966; Cleveland Indians 1967-68; Chicago Cubs 1968-70; Cincinnati Reds 1971
Died: January 16, 2006, Anniston, AL (age 66)
Originally drafted as a pitcher by the Tigers, Willie Smith converted to a full-time outfielder/first baseman after a few seasons and then enjoyed a nine-season career in the big leagues. He occasionally returned to pitching throughout his career and in 1964 he became the last major leaguer, before Shohei Ohtani, to pitch in at least 15 games and appear in his team's line-up at a different position in at least 15 games or more in the same season.
Smith was only an everyday player for the Angels in 1964 and 1965, and he'd make his mark later in his career as a successful pinch-hitter. Smith played in 691 games total, taking the field in 461 of those appearances. His most famous pinch-hit was the extra inning, game-winning home run he hit for the Cubs on opening day 1969 against the Phillies. For his career, Smith hit .248 with 46 home runs and 211 RBIs, twice finishing in the top ten in triples in the American League. As a pitcher, he made 29 appearances and went 2-4 with a 3.10 ERA and 2 saves. Smith wrapped up his professional career with two successful seasons in Japan playing for the Nankai Hawks in 1972 and 1973. With the Hawks, he hit .259 over 170 games with 29 home runs and 90 RBIs.
Originally drafted as a pitcher by the Tigers, Willie Smith converted to a full-time outfielder/first baseman after a few seasons and then enjoyed a nine-season career in the big leagues. He occasionally returned to pitching throughout his career and in 1964 he became the last major leaguer, before Shohei Ohtani, to pitch in at least 15 games and appear in his team's line-up at a different position in at least 15 games or more in the same season.
Smith was only an everyday player for the Angels in 1964 and 1965, and he'd make his mark later in his career as a successful pinch-hitter. Smith played in 691 games total, taking the field in 461 of those appearances. His most famous pinch-hit was the extra inning, game-winning home run he hit for the Cubs on opening day 1969 against the Phillies. For his career, Smith hit .248 with 46 home runs and 211 RBIs, twice finishing in the top ten in triples in the American League. As a pitcher, he made 29 appearances and went 2-4 with a 3.10 ERA and 2 saves. Smith wrapped up his professional career with two successful seasons in Japan playing for the Nankai Hawks in 1972 and 1973. With the Hawks, he hit .259 over 170 games with 29 home runs and 90 RBIs.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #566
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime)
The Card / Cubs Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime)
100 cards to go! On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show. The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year. I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova. I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.
I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set. The first place I stopped was a table with well-organized and well-marked binders of commons and semi-stars with 20% Off notes across the front of each binder.
I took my time and found 32 commons and semi-stars needed before asking to see the dealer's star cards from the set. It turned out this first purchase was also my biggest, as I spent over half my allotted budget here, America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, before moving on to my second stop. This was the seventh of 36 total cards bought from America's Pastime, and the seventh of 91 cards for set added overall on the day, and it cost a little over a dollar after the dealer discount.
The Card / Cubs Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Neither the Angels nor the Indians had piping around their uniform necks in the 1960s, so I'm assuming Smith is wearing a Tigers uniform here. He played in 17 games for the Tigers in 1963 before being swapped to Los Angeles on April 28, 1964. His 1967 and 1968 Topps cards use similar images, sans hat. The cartoon and write-up on the back of the card reference his former life as a pitcher. Smith's final pitching appearance in the majors came in 1968 when he pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief against the Giants on August 27th. Smith entered the game from left field, striking out Dick Dietz (#293) and Bobby Bolin (#505) during his outing.
Accuracy Index: Smith's card scores a -8 - wrong uniform (-5) and logo less hat (-3).
1969 Season
Smith's opening day heroics, as mentioned above, came on April 8th at Wrigley Field. The Phillies had taken a 6-5 lead in the top of the 11th, and Barry Lersch (#206), entering his fifth inning of relief for the Phillies, gave up a single to Randy Hundley (#347) and then surrendered Smith's game-winning, walk-off blast. For the year, Smith batted .246 in 103 games, with nine home runs and 25 RBIs. He made 46 starts - 30 in left field and 16 at first base. Smith was the only player other than Ernie Banks (#20) to spend time at first base for the Cubs this season.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #85
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1965-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1971 Topps #457
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 30 in the Beckett online database as of 10/1/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Smith's opening day heroics, as mentioned above, came on April 8th at Wrigley Field. The Phillies had taken a 6-5 lead in the top of the 11th, and Barry Lersch (#206), entering his fifth inning of relief for the Phillies, gave up a single to Randy Hundley (#347) and then surrendered Smith's game-winning, walk-off blast. For the year, Smith batted .246 in 103 games, with nine home runs and 25 RBIs. He made 46 starts - 30 in left field and 16 at first base. Smith was the only player other than Ernie Banks (#20) to spend time at first base for the Cubs this season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #85
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1965-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1971 Topps #457
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 30 in the Beckett online database as of 10/1/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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