Aleck Smith
Catcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1897-1906)
Aleck Smith was a catcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1906 for 6 teams, including the Brooklyn Dodgers, a span of 10 seasons. In 287 career games, he hit .264 with 252 hits, 1 home runs, and 130 RBI.
- AVG (Batting Average):
- Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
- HR (Home Runs):
- Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
- RBI (Runs Batted In):
- Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
- OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
- On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.
Data updated
- Position
- Catcher
- Bats / Throws
- — / R
- Born
- 1871 in New York, NY, USA
- Died
- 7/9/1919 in New York, NY, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1897-04-23
- Last Game
- 1906-10-05
Full name: Alexander Benjamin Smith
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 287 | 955 | 107 | 252 | 30 | 11 | 1 | 130 | 37 | 26 | 65 | .264 | .288 | .321 | .609 | -1,640 |
Career AVG .264 vs. league average .267 across their career seasons — near league average.
Career OBP .288 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — 11.4% below league average.
Career SLG .321 vs. league average .347 across their career seasons — 7.4% below league average.
Career OPS .609 vs. league average .672 across their career seasons — 9.3% below league average.
Season-by-Season Batting
Click a stat to plot it across every season.
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | Lg AVG | Lg OBP | Lg SLG | Lg OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897 | BRO | NL | 66 | 237 | 36 | 71 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 12 | 4 | 15 | .300 | .291 (+3%) | .354 (-11%) | .387 (-3%) | .741 (-7%) | -307.6 |
| 1898 | BRO | NL | 52 | 199 | 25 | 52 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 15 | .261 | .270 (-3%) | .333 (-17%) | .347 (-2%) | .680 (-9%) | -367.8 |
| 1899 | BRO | NL | 17 | 61 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .180 | .282 (-36%) | .343 (-40%) | .366 (-42%) | .710 (-41%) | -403.0 |
| 1899 | BLN | NL | 41 | 120 | 17 | 46 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 7 | 4 | 11 | .383 | .282 (+36%) | .343 (+22%) | .366 (+36%) | .710 (+29%) | -403.0 |
| 1900 | BRO | NL | 7 | 25 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .240 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1901 | NY1 | NL | 26 | 78 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .141 | .271 (-48%) | .326 (-57%) | .359 (-61%) | .686 (-59%) | -697.0 |
| 1902 | BLA | AL | 41 | 145 | 10 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 5 | 8 | 4 | .234 | .266 (-12%) | .321 (-15%) | .343 (-26%) | .665 (-20%) | -428.7 |
| 1903 | BOS | AL | 11 | 33 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .303 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1904 | CHN | NL | 10 | 29 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | .207 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1906 | NY1 | NL | 16 | 28 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .179 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| Career · 10 seasons | 287 | 955 | 107 | 252 | 30 | 11 | 1 | 130 | 37 | 26 | 65 | .264 | — | — | — | — | -2,607 | ||
Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.
Game Log & Splits
View full game log (220 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 116 | 381 | 41 | 97 | 0 | 54 | .255 |
| Away | 104 | 337 | 30 | 84 | 0 | 37 | .249 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906-10-05 | NY1 | BSN | L | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1906-10-04 | NY1 | PHI | W | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1906-10-03 | NY1 | PHI | L | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1906-09-06 | NY1 | BRO | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1906-09-04 | NY1 | BSN | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1906-09-03 | NY1 | BSN | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1906-09-01 | NY1 | BSN | W | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1906-08-31 | NY1 | PHI | L | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1906-08-21 | NY1 | CHC | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1906-07-21 | NY1 | PIT | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 18 | 1 | 130 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 2B | 5 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| 3B | 10 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 0 |
| C | 187 | 4 | 580 | 177 | 54 | 22 |
| OF | 57 | 6 | 84 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897 | BRO | 1B | 6 | 0 | 50 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 1897 | BRO | C | 43 | 0 | 111 | 47 | 17 | 7 |
| 1897 | BRO | OF | 18 | 0 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 1898 | BRO | 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1898 | BRO | 2B | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1898 | BRO | 3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| 1898 | BRO | C | 20 | 0 | 63 | 24 | 9 | 4 |
| 1898 | BRO | OF | 26 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 1899 | BRO | C | 17 | 0 | 52 | 14 | 6 | 1 |
| 1899 | BLN | 1B | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1899 | BLN | C | 36 | 0 | 109 | 26 | 7 | 3 |
| 1899 | BLN | OF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1900 | BRO | 3B | 6 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| 1900 | BRO | C | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1901 | NY1 | C | 24 | 0 | 106 | 22 | 5 | 2 |
| 1902 | BLA | 1B | 7 | 0 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 1902 | BLA | 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 1902 | BLA | 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1902 | BLA | C | 27 | 0 | 65 | 25 | 5 | 2 |
| 1902 | BLA | OF | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1903 | BOS | C | 10 | 0 | 44 | 11 | 4 | 1 |
| 1904 | CHN | 3B | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1904 | CHN | C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1904 | CHN | OF | 6 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1906 | NY1 | 1B | 3 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 1906 | NY1 | C | 8 | 4 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 1906 | NY1 | OF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Catcher | 187 |
| First Base | 17 |
| Second Base | 5 |
| Third Base | 10 |
| Left Field | 35 |
| Center Field | 13 |
| Right Field | 10 |
Aleck Smith: the record in brief
April 23, 1897 and October 5, 1906 bracket Aleck Smith's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. Smith played for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1897 to 1898), the Brooklyn Superbas (1899 to 1900), the Baltimore Orioles (1899 through 1902), the New York Giants (1901 to 1906), the Boston Americans (1903), and the Chicago Cubs (1904). The bio lists Smith's primary position as catcher. Smith was born in 1871, in New York, NY, USA. The bio records the death on July 9, 1919, in New York, NY, USA. The given name on file is Alexander Benjamin Smith.
Smith collected 252 hits in 955 at bats across 287 games, good for a .264 batting average, plus 1 home run, 130 runs batted in, and 37 stolen bases. The on-base percentage is .288 and the slugging percentage .321, for an OPS of .609. The .264 career average is close to the .267 the league hit across the same seasons. In OPS terms, Smith's .609 stands 9.3% below the league's .672. The hits column peaks at 71, in 1897. In 1897, a season of regular play, Smith hit .300 while the league hit .291.
Frequently Asked Questions about Aleck Smith
- What years did Aleck Smith play?
- Aleck Smith played in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1906.
- Was Aleck Smith a pitcher?
- No. Aleck Smith was a position player (Catcher).
- How many home runs did Aleck Smith hit?
- Aleck Smith hit 1 career home run with 252 hits.
- What teams did Aleck Smith play for?
- Aleck Smith played for 6 teams: the Brooklyn Superbas (1897–1900), the Baltimore Orioles (1899), the New York Giants (1901, 1906), the Baltimore Orioles (1902), the Boston Americans (1903), and the Chicago Cubs (1904).
- What were Aleck Smith's career stats?
- In 287 games, Aleck Smith had 252 hits, 1 home runs, 130 RBI, 107 runs, and 37 stolen bases, with a .264 batting average.
- What position did Aleck Smith play?
- Aleck Smith played primarily as a catcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
- How many home runs did Aleck Smith hit each season?
- Aleck Smith's home runs by season: 1 in 1897, 0 in 1898, 0 in 1899, 0 in 1900, 0 in 1901, 0 in 1902, 0 in 1903, 0 in 1904, and 0 in 1906. His most in one season was 1, in 1897.
- What was Aleck Smith's career batting average?
- Aleck Smith batted .264 over his career, with 252 hits in 955 at bats.
- How many RBI did Aleck Smith have?
- Aleck Smith drove in 130 runs in his career.
- Is Aleck Smith in the Hall of Fame?
- No. Aleck Smith has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.