Theolic Smith

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records

Theolic Smith was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Crawfords, the St. Louis Stars, and the Cleveland Buckeyes. Across 63 career appearances, he went 17-27 with a 4.95 ERA and 155 strikeouts. Theolic Smith was a 2-time All-Star. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 85.

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

W–L 17–27
ERA 4.95
WHIP 1.51
SO 155
Pitcher PIV 955.5
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
B / R
Height / Weight
5'11" / 170 lb
Born
5/19/1913 in Wabbesika, AR, USA
Died
11/3/1981 in Compton, CA, USA
Awards
2× All-Star
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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Theolic Smith — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
265.0 229.0 44.0 61.0 9.0 4.0 2.0 14.0 29.0 3.0 5.0 .266 .349 .367 .716

Pitching

Theolic Smith — Pitching
W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
36 36 75 50 24 5 576.1 562 335 156 21 137 189 2.44 1.21

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

Theolic Smith — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1935 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1944 4.0 4.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1949 3.0 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1951 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Listed seasons · 4 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — —

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Theolic Smith — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
Season W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
1935 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.1 1 1 0 0 2 2 0.00 2.25
1949 5 2 8 5 3 1 48.1 38 20 2 0 4 4 0.37 0.87
1951 0 0 1 0 0 0 3.0 2 0 0 0 1 2 0.00 1.00
Listed seasons · 3 5 2 9 5 3 1 52.2 41 21 2 0 7 8 0.34 0.91

Career Pitching Statistics

Theolic Smith — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
17 27 63 45 28 5 3 354.2 409 195 20 126 155 4.95 955.5

Career ERA 4.95 vs. league average 4.20 across their career seasons — 17.7% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Theolic Smith — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1936 PC NN2 3 5 17 10 4 2 2 80.2 98 61 40 28 6.81 4.59 (-48%) -971.3
1937 PC NN2 5 5 12 10 5 0 0 63.2 83 44 26 29 6.22 4.34 (-43%) -1042.0
1938 PC NN2 1 5 12 5 3 0 1 43.1 65 34 14 18 7.06 4.35 (-62%) -1215.8
1939 SL3 NAL 3 7 10 9 7 1 0 69.0 73 26 22 37 3.39 4.28 (+21%) 1696.8
1943 CBE NAL 5 5 12 11 9 2 0 98.0 90 30 24 43 2.76 3.50 (+21%) 2487.7
Career · 5 seasons 17 27 63 45 28 5 3 354.2 409 195 126 155 4.95 — 955

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

Theolic Smith — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
92 197 36 50 6 3 1 16 3 28 1 .254 .347 .330 .677 85

Career AVG .254 vs. league average .273 across their career seasons — 6.9% below league average.

Career OBP .347 vs. league average .340 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .330 vs. league average .387 across their career seasons — 14.7% below league average.

Career OPS .677 vs. league average .727 across their career seasons — 6.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Theolic Smith — Season-by-Season Batting
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1936 PC NN2 17 30 6 7 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 .233 — — — — 0.0
1937 PC NN2 20 42 8 11 0 1 1 3 0 6 0 .262 — — — — 0.0
1938 PC NN2 14 19 3 4 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 .211 — — — — 0.0
1939 SL3 NAL 16 38 6 10 3 0 0 0 1 4 0 .263 — — — — 0.0
1943 CBE NAL 25 68 13 18 2 1 0 11 2 12 1 .265 .255 (+3%) .324 (+15%) .346 (-7%) .671 (+4%) 85.2
Career · 5 seasons 92 197 36 50 6 3 1 16 3 28 1 .254 — — — — 85

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

Theolic Smith — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
5 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 .200

Playoff Batting by Year

Theolic Smith — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1939 ALC SL3 5 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 .200

Playoff Career Pitching

Theolic Smith — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 1 1 1 0 8.0 10 4 1 3 4.50

Playoff Pitching by Year

Theolic Smith — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1939 ALC SL3 0 1 1 1 0 8.0 10 4 1 3 4.50

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (176 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Theolic Smith — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home4056111403.250
Away61114193115.272

Pitching — Home / Away

Theolic Smith — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home32182.01853147611.53
Away43245.12337654672.79

Last 10 Games — Batting

Theolic Smith — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1949-08-22 CAGLCBW 000000000
1949-08-01 CAGPH5L 000000000
1949-07-25 CAGKCML 000000000
1949-07-04 CAGKCMW 000000000
1949-06-10 CAGBLGL 200000000
1949-06-07 CAGLCBW 000000000
1949-05-26 CAGIN9L 100000000
1949-05-22 CAGIN9W 000000000
1949-05-04 CAGMEMW 000000000
1943-09-05 CVBCI2L 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Theolic Smith — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1949-08-22 CAGLCB SV 1.2000000
1949-08-01 CAGPH5 — 2.0450100
1949-07-25 CAGKCM L 0.0000000
1949-07-04 CAGKCM W 7.0522000
1949-06-10 CAGBLG L 3.2660340
1949-06-07 CAGLCB W 9.0820000
1949-05-22 CAGIN9 W 9.0740000
1949-05-04 CAGMEM — 0.0000000
1943-09-05 CVBCI2 L 8.0040001
1943-08-29 CVBBIR L 9.0830370

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Theolic Smith — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
2B 3 0 3 6 0 1
OF 24 14 26 2 2 1
P 63 45 15 122 7 1
SS 2 2 2 9 0 2

Season-by-Season Fielding

Theolic Smith — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1936 PC P 17 10 0 17 2 0
1937 PC 2B 3 0 3 6 0 1
1937 PC OF 3 1 2 0 0 0
1937 PC P 12 10 3 16 1 0
1937 PC SS 2 2 2 9 0 2
1938 PC OF 1 1 0 0 0 0
1938 PC P 12 5 2 12 0 0
1939 SL3 OF 7 3 6 1 1 1
1939 SL3 P 10 9 7 35 3 1
1943 CBE OF 13 9 18 1 1 0
1943 CBE P 12 11 3 42 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Theolic Smith — Career Games by Position
Position Games
Pitcher 63
Second Base 3
Shortstop 2
Left Field 8
Center Field 8
Right Field 8

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

  1. 98
    Ray Bare
    16-26, 4.79 ERA
  2. 86
    Willie Spearman
    19-27, 5.07 ERA
  3. 84
    Malvin Powell
    22-17, 4.83 ERA
  4. 80
    Harry Kenyon
    31-33, 5.09 ERA
  5. 78
    Osvaldo Fernandez
    19-26, 4.93 ERA
  6. 77
    Tim Pugh
    25-28, 4.97 ERA

Theolic Smith: the record in brief

The season rows for Theolic Smith begin in 1936. The season rows list, in order, the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1936 through 1938), the St. Louis Stars (1939), and the Cleveland Buckeyes (1943). Smith played primarily as a pitcher and switch-hit and threw right-handed. Born on May 19, 1913, in Wabbesika, AR, USA, Smith was listed at 5'11" and 170 pounds. The bio records the death on November 3, 1981, in Compton, CA, USA.

Smith pitched in 63 games, starting 45, and finished with a 17-27 record and 4.95 ERA. The same table counts 155 strikeouts, 28 complete games, and 5 shutouts. The league ERA over Smith's seasons was 4.20, so the 4.95 figure ran 17.7% worse than average. No season topped the 5 wins of 1937. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 2.76 in 1943, when the league's was 3.50. By Pitcher PIV, Baseball Data Hub's measure of run prevention relative to each season's league, Smith's career adds up to 955.5.

Frequently Asked Questions about Theolic Smith

Was Theolic Smith a pitcher?
Yes. Theolic Smith pitched in the major leagues, recording 17 wins and 155 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Theolic Smith hit?
Theolic Smith hit 1 career home runs with 50 hits.
What was Theolic Smith's career batting average?
Theolic Smith batted .254 over his career, with 50 hits in 197 at bats.
How many RBI did Theolic Smith have?
Theolic Smith drove in 16 runs in his career.
What was Theolic Smith's career ERA?
Theolic Smith finished with a 4.95 career ERA, going 17-27 with 155 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Theolic Smith have?
Theolic Smith recorded 155 career strikeouts.