Elmer Smith
Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1914-1925)
Elmer Smith was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1914 to 1925 for 5 teams, including the Cleveland Guardians, a span of 12 seasons. In 1,012 career games, he hit .276 with 881 hits, 70 home runs, and 541 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 7,452.
- 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
- Outfielder
- Bats / Throws
- L / R
- Height / Weight
- 5'10" / 165 lb
- Died
- 8/3/1984 in Columbia, KY, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1914-09-20
- Last Game
- 1925-09-27
Full name: Elmer John Smith
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,012 | 3,195 | 469 | 881 | 181 | 62 | 70 | 541 | 54 | 319 | 359 | .276 | .344 | .437 | .781 | 7,452 |
Career AVG .276 vs. league average .269 across their career seasons — near league average.
Career OBP .344 vs. league average .331 across their career seasons — near league average.
Career SLG .437 vs. league average .364 across their career seasons — +20.2% above league average.
Career OPS .781 vs. league average .695 across their career seasons — +12.5% above 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | CLE | AL | 13 | 53 | 5 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 11 | .321 | .255 (+26%) | .322 (+7%) | .339 (+11%) | .661 (+9%) | 63.2 |
| 1915 | CLE | AL | 144 | 476 | 37 | 118 | 23 | 12 | 3 | 67 | 10 | 36 | 75 | .248 | .250 (-1%) | .318 (-6%) | .332 (+10%) | .651 (+2%) | 8.6 |
| 1916 | CLE | AL | 79 | 213 | 25 | 59 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 40 | 3 | 18 | 35 | .277 | .248 (+11%) | .314 (+7%) | .326 (+28%) | .640 (+18%) | 574.1 |
| 1916 | WS1 | AL | 45 | 168 | 12 | 36 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 27 | 4 | 18 | 28 | .214 | .248 (-14%) | .314 (-5%) | .326 (+6%) | .640 (avg) | 574.1 |
| 1917 | WS1 | AL | 35 | 117 | 8 | 26 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 14 | .222 | .248 (-11%) | .312 (-17%) | .323 (-5%) | .635 (-11%) | -217.5 |
| 1917 | CLE | AL | 64 | 161 | 21 | 42 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 6 | 13 | 18 | .261 | .248 (+5%) | .312 (+1%) | .323 (+11%) | .635 (+6%) | -217.5 |
| 1919 | CLE | AL | 114 | 395 | 60 | 110 | 24 | 6 | 9 | 54 | 15 | 41 | 30 | .278 | .262 (+6%) | .322 (+10%) | .347 (+26%) | .670 (+18%) | 1317.6 |
| 1920 | CLE | AL | 129 | 456 | 82 | 144 | 37 | 10 | 12 | 103 | 5 | 53 | 35 | .316 | .271 (+16%) | .331 (+18%) | .363 (+43%) | .694 (+31%) | 2679.8 |
| 1921 | CLE | AL | 129 | 431 | 98 | 125 | 28 | 9 | 16 | 85 | 0 | 56 | 46 | .290 | .286 (+1%) | .344 (+9%) | .395 (+29%) | .739 (+19%) | 1678.2 |
| 1922 | BOS | AL | 73 | 231 | 43 | 66 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 32 | 0 | 25 | 21 | .286 | .285 (avg) | .345 (+3%) | .397 (+19%) | .743 (+12%) | 466.5 |
| 1922 | NYA | AL | 21 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 5 | .185 | — | — | — | — | 466.5 |
| 1923 | NYA | AL | 70 | 183 | 30 | 56 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 35 | 3 | 21 | 21 | .306 | .282 (+8%) | .344 (+10%) | .390 (+22%) | .734 (+16%) | 555.1 |
| 1925 | CIN | NL | 96 | 284 | 47 | 77 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 46 | 6 | 28 | 20 | .271 | .288 (-6%) | .349 (-3%) | .407 (+11%) | .756 (+4%) | 181.4 |
| Career · 13 seasons | 1,012 | 3,195 | 469 | 881 | 181 | 62 | 70 | 541 | 54 | 319 | 359 | .276 | — | — | — | — | 8,130 | ||
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.
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
Playoff Batting by Year
Game Log & Splits
View full game log (1014 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 505 | 1544 | 224 | 440 | 29 | 291 | .285 |
| Away | 509 | 1656 | 243 | 440 | 41 | 263 | .266 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925-09-27 | CIN | PIT | L | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1925-09-26 | CIN | BRO | L | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925-09-25 | CIN | BRO | W | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925-09-23 | CIN | BSN | L | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925-09-18 | CIN | PHI | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1925-09-15 | CIN | NY1 | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925-09-10 | CIN | CHC | W | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1925-09-07 | CIN | STL | W | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925-09-06 | CIN | STL | L | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925-09-05 | CIN | CHC | W | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | CLE | OF | 13 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1915 | CLE | OF | 123 | 0 | 202 | 15 | 18 | 4 |
| 1916 | CLE | OF | 57 | 0 | 77 | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| 1916 | WS1 | OF | 45 | 0 | 75 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 1917 | WS1 | OF | 29 | 0 | 60 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| 1917 | CLE | OF | 40 | 0 | 64 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| 1919 | CLE | OF | 111 | 0 | 167 | 12 | 8 | 8 |
| 1920 | CLE | OF | 129 | 0 | 217 | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| 1921 | CLE | OF | 127 | 0 | 183 | 16 | 6 | 1 |
| 1922 | BOS | OF | 58 | 0 | 117 | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| 1922 | NYA | OF | 11 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1923 | NYA | OF | 47 | 0 | 86 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| 1925 | CIN | OF | 80 | 0 | 139 | 8 | 5 | 5 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Left Field | 119 |
| Center Field | 25 |
| Right Field | 727 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Elmer Smith (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Elmer Smith: the record in brief
Elmer Smith played a first major league game on September 20, 1914 and a last one on September 27, 1925. Club by club, the record runs the Cleveland Naps (1914), the Cleveland Indians (1915 through 1921), the Washington Senators (1916 through 1917), the Boston Red Sox (1922), the New York Yankees (1922 to 1923), and the Cincinnati Reds (1925). Smith played primarily as an outfielder and batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Born on September 21, 1892, in Perkins Township Erie County, OH, USA, Smith was listed at 165 pounds on a 5-foot-10 frame. Smith died on August 3, 1984, in Columbia, KY, USA. Smith's full given name, per the bio, is Elmer John Smith.
The batting record for Smith: 1,012 games, 881 hits in 3,195 at bats, and a .276 average; the totals also include 70 homers, 541 runs batted in, and 54 stolen bases. Reaching base at a .344 clip and slugging .437, Smith finished with a .781 OPS. Against a .269 league average for those years, Smith's .276 average was near the norm.
Frequently Asked Questions about Elmer Smith
- What years did Elmer Smith play?
- Elmer Smith played in Major League Baseball from 1914 to 1925.
- Was Elmer Smith a pitcher?
- No. Elmer Smith was a position player (Outfielder).
- How many home runs did Elmer Smith hit?
- Elmer Smith hit 70 career home runs with 881 hits.
- What was Elmer Smith's career batting average?
- Elmer Smith batted .276 over his career, with 881 hits in 3,195 at bats.
- How many RBI did Elmer Smith have?
- Elmer Smith drove in 541 runs in his career.
- Is Elmer Smith in the Hall of Fame?
- No. Elmer Smith has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.