Lewis Oscar "Bull" Smith (August 20, 1880 – May 1, 1928) was a Major League Baseball outfielder. He played from 1904 to 1911 for the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Washington Senators. In 1911 Bull was asked to “teach the finer points of the game” as a coach for the Washington Senators. Bull was given an official at-bat for the big club for his services. He took a walk. Smith attended West Virginia University, where he played four seasons (1900–1903) of college baseball for the Mountaineers.[1]
| Bull Smith | |
|---|---|
| Outfielder | |
| Born: August 20, 1880 Plum, West Virginia, U.S. | |
| Died: May 1, 1928 (aged 47) Charleston, West Virginia, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 30, 1904, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| August 30, 1911, for the Washington Senators | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .140 |
| Home runs | 0 |
| Runs batted in | 0 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Profile | |
|---|---|
| Position | Halfback |
| Career information | |
| College | West Virginia |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1905 | Canton Athletic Club |
| 1906 | Canton Bulldogs |
Coaching | |
| 1903 | West Virginia Wesleyan |
Outside of baseball, Smith played football in 1905 for the Canton Athletic Club. He remained with the team in 1906 as they were renamed the Canton Bulldogs. Smith and Canton played in the "Ohio League", which was the direct predecessor to the National Football League. Smith played halfback for the Bulldogs in 1906 when a betting scandal involving Canton and their rival, the Massillon Tigers, arose.[2]. The scandal, the first major match-fixing controversy in American professional football history, centered on allegations by a Massillon newspaper that Canton coach Blondy Wallace had conspired with Massillon end Walter East to fix their two-game championship series: Canton would win the first game and Massillon the second, forcing a lucrative deciding third game. A second account alleged that Wallace had attempted to bribe Massillon players to throw a game outright. Massillon Tigers stars Bob Shiring and Tiny Maxwell stated that Canton operatives had approached them to throw the contest, and that they had declined. Canton denied all charges. The scandal was never definitively resolved but it severely damaged the reputation of both clubs and reportedly contributed to the decline of professional football in Ohio for nearly a decade.
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats (Independent) (1903) | |||||||||
| 1903 | West Virginia Wesleyan | 3–4 | |||||||
| Richmond: | 3–4 | ||||||||
| Total: | 3–4 | ||||||||
References
edit- ↑ "West Virginia University Baseball Players Who Made it to the Major Leagues". Baseball-Almanac.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2004. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
- ↑ "Blondy Wallace and the Biggest Football Scandal Ever" (PDF). PFRA Annual. 5. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–16. 1984. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2014.
External links
edit- Career statistics from Baseball Reference · Baseball Reference (Minors) · Retrosheet · Baseball Almanac
- Bull Smith at Find a Grave
- https://bullthemovie.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/bull-a-real-players-timeline-1911-1924/
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