Ford Smith
Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records
Ford Smith was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Kansas City Monarchs. Across 28 career appearances, he went 14-6 with a 2.37 ERA and 109 strikeouts. Ford Smith was an All-Star. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 5586.9.
- W (Wins):
- Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
- ERA (Earned Run Average):
- Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
- SO (Strikeouts):
- For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
- WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):
- Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.
Data updated
- Position
- Pitcher
- Bats / Throws
- B / R
- Height / Weight
- 6'1" / 198 lb
- Died
- 2/26/1983 in Phoenix, AZ, USA
- Awards
- All-Star
Full name: John Ford Smith
Negro Leagues Career Statistics
Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.
Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season-by-Season Pitching
Click a stat to plot it across every season.
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Lg ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | KCM | NAL | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.0 | 28 | 8 | 6 | 17 | 2.18 | 3.94 (+45%) | 1343.0 |
| 1946 | KCM | NAL | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 30.1 | 26 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 2.97 | 3.59 (+17%) | 791.9 |
| 1947 | KCM | NAL | 6 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 63.0 | 47 | 15 | 27 | 32 | 2.14 | 3.97 (+46%) | 870.8 |
| 1948 | KCM | NAL | 4 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 55.2 | 49 | 15 | 13 | 41 | 2.43 | 4.10 (+41%) | 2581.2 |
| Career · 4 seasons | 14 | 6 | 28 | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 182.0 | 150 | 48 | 53 | 109 | 2.37 | — | 5,587 | ||
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.
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63 | 157 | 23 | 37 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 0 | 11 | 1 | .236 | .290 | .325 | .615 | -289 |
Career AVG .236 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 9.8% below league average.
Career OBP .290 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — 13.3% below league average.
Career SLG .325 vs. league average .372 across their career seasons — 12.6% below league average.
Career OPS .615 vs. league average .706 across their career seasons — 13.0% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | KCM | NAL | 10 | 22 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .409 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1946 | KCM | NAL | 25 | 71 | 9 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .183 | .256 (-29%) | .328 (-22%) | .358 (-29%) | .687 (-26%) | -289.2 |
| 1947 | KCM | NAL | 15 | 38 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 1 | .263 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1948 | KCM | NAL | 13 | 26 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .192 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| Career · 4 seasons | 63 | 157 | 23 | 37 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 0 | 11 | 1 | .236 | — | — | — | — | -289 | ||
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 (125 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 58 | 119 | 19 | 36 | 2 | 23 | .303 |
| Away | 20 | 30 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 9 | .233 |
Pitching — Home / Away
| Split | G | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 30 | 208.0 | 163 | 14 | 52 | 80 | 0.61 |
| Away | 17 | 115.2 | 117 | 12 | 12 | 25 | 0.93 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948-08-29 | KCM | CVB | L | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-08-27 | KCM | MEM | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1948-08-16 | KCM | IN9 | W | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-08-12 | KCM | MEM | W | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-08-08 | KCM | MEM | L | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-08-01 | KCM | BIR | W | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-07-26 | KCM | IN9 | W | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-07-18 | KCM | MEM | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-07-11 | KCM | CAG | W | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-07-05 | KCM | CAG | W | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last 10 Games — Pitching
| Date | Tm | Opp | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948-08-29 | KCM | CVB | L | 9.0 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 1948-08-16 | KCM | IN9 | W | 9.0 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-08-12 | KCM | MEM | W | 9.0 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-08-08 | KCM | MEM | L | 7.0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| 1948-08-01 | KCM | BIR | W | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 1948-07-26 | KCM | IN9 | W | 9.0 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-07-18 | KCM | MEM | L | 8.0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1948-07-11 | KCM | CAG | W | 9.0 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-07-05 | KCM | CAG | — | 3.2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 1948-07-04 | KCM | CAG | — | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 28 |
| First Base | 1 |
| Left Field | 5 |
| Center Field | 11 |
| Right Field | 9 |
Ford Smith: the record in brief
Ford Smith's record on this page is drawn from the season tables, which run from 1941 to 1948. Smith spent the whole of the career shown here with one club, the Kansas City Monarchs. The bio lists Smith as a pitcher who switch-hit and threw right-handed. Smith is listed at 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds. Smith was born on January 19, 1919, in Phoenix, AZ, USA. Smith's death is recorded on February 26, 1983, in Phoenix, AZ, USA. Smith's full given name, per the bio, is John Ford Smith.
Across 28 games (18 starts), Smith recorded 14 wins against 6 losses with a 2.37 ERA. Also on Smith's record: 109 strikeouts and 13 complete games. That 2.37 ERA compares with a 3.90 league average across the same seasons, 39.1% better. The best win total was 6, in 1947. In 1947, one of the busiest seasons, Smith posted a 2.14 ERA; the league figure that year was 3.97.
Frequently Asked Questions about Ford Smith
- Was Ford Smith a pitcher?
- Yes. Ford Smith pitched in the major leagues, recording 14 wins and 109 strikeouts.
- How many home runs did Ford Smith hit?
- Ford Smith hit 1 career home runs with 37 hits.
- What was Ford Smith's career batting average?
- Ford Smith batted .236 over his career, with 37 hits in 157 at bats.
- How many RBI did Ford Smith have?
- Ford Smith drove in 29 runs in his career.
- What was Ford Smith's career ERA?
- Ford Smith finished with a 2.37 career ERA, going 14-6 with 109 strikeouts.
- How many strikeouts did Ford Smith have?
- Ford Smith recorded 109 career strikeouts.