What years did Willie Smith play?

Willie Smith played in Major League Baseball from 1963 to 1971.

Was Willie Smith a pitcher?

Both. Willie Smith pitched in 29 games, going 2-4 with a 3.1 ERA, but spent most of his career as an Outfielder.

How many home runs did Willie Smith hit?

Willie Smith hit 46 career home runs with 410 hits.

What was Willie Smith's career batting average?

Willie Smith batted .248 over his career, with 410 hits in 1,654 at bats.

How many RBI did Willie Smith have?

Willie Smith drove in 211 runs in his career.

What was Willie Smith's career ERA?

Willie Smith finished with a 3.10 career ERA, going 2-4 with 39 strikeouts.

Willie Smith

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1963-1971)

Willie Smith was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1963 to 1971 for 6 teams, including the Detroit Tigers, a span of 9 seasons. In 691 career games, he hit .248 with 410 hits, 46 home runs, and 211 RBI. He also pitched in 29 games, going 2-4 with a 3.10 ERA. 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 550.

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 October 12, 2026

AVG .248

HR 46

RBI 211

H 410

OPS .689

PIV 550

Position: Outfielder
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 182 lb
Born: 2/11/1939 in Anniston, AL, USA
Died: 1/16/2006 in Anniston, AL, USA
MLB Debut: 1963-06-18
Last Game: 1971-09-30

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Willie Smith — Batting
PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
21.0	19.0	1.0	2.0	0	1.0	0	0	1.0	0	0	.105	.150	.211	.361

Pitching

Willie Smith — Pitching
W	L	GS	CG	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
5	3	7	5	7	0	74.0	75	48	17	4	27	23	2.07	1.38

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

Willie Smith — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season	PA	AB	R	H	3B	RBI	BB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1938	10.0	10.0	1.0	3.0	0	0	0	.300	.300	.300	.600
1946	11.0	9.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	0	1.0	.222	.300	.444	.744
1948	10.0	10.0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
1958	2.0	2.0	0	1.0	0	1.0	0	.500	.500	.500	1.000
Listed seasons · 4	33	31	2	6	1	1	1	.194	—	—	—

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Willie Smith — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
Season	W	L	GS	CG	GF	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
1938	0	0	0	0	1	1.0	2	1	1	0	0	0	9.00	2.00
1946	3	2	4	4	3	37.0	35	22	0	2	8	16	0.00	1.16
1948	2	1	3	1	4	37.0	40	26	17	2	19	7	4.13	1.59
1958	1	0	0	0	0	3.0	2	0	0	0	1	4	0.00	1.00
1959	0	0	1	0	0	3.0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.33
Listed seasons · 5	6	3	8	5	8	81.0	80	50	18	4	28	27	2.00	1.33

Career Batting Statistics

Willie Smith — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
691	1,654	171	410	63	21	46	211	20	107	284	.248	.295	.395	.689	550

Career AVG .248 vs. league average .247 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .295 vs. league average .313 across their career seasons — 5.8% below league average.

Career SLG .395 vs. league average .369 across their career seasons — +7.1% above league average.

Career OPS .689 vs. league average .682 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Willie Smith (b. 1939) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1963	DET	AL	17	8	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.125	—	—	—	—	0.0
1964	LAA	AL	118	359	46	108	14	6	11	51	7	8	39	.301	.250 (+20%)	.312 (+1%)	.377 (+23%)	.690 (+13%)	700.4
1965	CAL	AL	136	459	52	120	14	9	14	57	9	32	60	.261	.245 (+6%)	.310 (-1%)	.371 (+14%)	.682 (+7%)	440.3
1966	CAL	AL	90	195	18	36	3	2	1	20	1	12	37	.185	.248 (-26%)	.309 (-23%)	.376 (-37%)	.685 (-31%)	-919.2
1967	CLE	AL	21	32	0	7	2	0	0	2	0	1	10	.219	—	—	—	—	0.0
1968	CLE	AL	33	42	1	6	2	0	0	3	0	3	14	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1968	CHN	NL	55	142	13	39	8	2	5	25	0	12	33	.275	.236 (+16%)	.298 (+12%)	.340 (+37%)	.638 (+25%)	0.0
1969	CHN	NL	103	195	21	48	9	1	9	25	1	25	49	.246	.248 (-1%)	.320 (+3%)	.369 (+19%)	.689 (+12%)	409.8
1970	CHN	NL	87	167	15	36	9	1	5	24	2	11	32	.216	.253 (-15%)	.325 (-18%)	.385 (-4%)	.711 (-10%)	-321.5
1971	CIN	NL	31	55	3	9	2	0	1	4	0	3	9	.164	.249 (-34%)	.316 (-35%)	.365 (-30%)	.682 (-32%)	-278.0
Career · 10 seasons			691	1,654	171	410	63	21	46	211	20	107	284	.248	—	—	—	—	32

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 Pitching Statistics

Willie Smith — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
2	4	29	3	0	0	2	61.0	60	21	7	24	39	3.10	-971.9

Career ERA 3.10 vs. league average 3.34 across their career seasons — 7.2% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Willie Smith — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1963	DET	AL	1	0	11	2	2	21.2	24	11	13	16	4.57	3.46 (-32%)	-294.2
1964	LAA	AL	1	4	15	1	0	31.2	34	10	10	20	2.84	3.58 (+21%)	-677.7
1968	CLE	AL	0	0	2	0	0	5.0	2	0	1	1	0.00	—	0.0
1968	CHN	NL	0	0	1	0	0	2.2	0	0	0	2	0.00	—	0.0
Career · 4 seasons			2	4	29	3	2	61.0	60	21	24	39	3.10	—	-972

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 (720 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Willie Smith — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	363	809	83	200	24	103	.247
Away	328	846	87	210	22	108	.248

Pitching — Home / Away

Willie Smith — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	13	29.1	29	12	12	18	3.68
Away	16	31.2	31	9	12	22	2.56

Last 10 Games — Batting

Willie Smith — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	BB	SO
1971-09-30	CIN	ATL	L	0	1	0
1971-09-28	CIN	ATL	L	1	0	0
1971-09-26	CIN	SFG	L	1	0	1
1971-09-24	CIN	SFG	W	1	0	1
1971-09-19	CIN	HOU	L	1	0	1
1971-09-18	CIN	HOU	W	1	0	0
1971-09-14	CIN	ATL	L	1	0	0
1971-09-13	CIN	ATL	W	1	0	0
1971-09-12	CIN	HOU	L	0	1	0
1971-05-28	CIN	HOU	W	1	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Willie Smith — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1968-08-27	CHC	SFG	—	2.2	0	0	0	0	2	0
1968-06-24	CLE	DET	—	3.0	1	0	0	1	0	0
1968-06-01	CLE	TEX	—	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
1964-06-15	LAA	TEX	—	0.2	0	0	0	1	1	0
1964-06-13	LAA	DET	L	2.2	4	1	1	0	1	0
1964-06-08	LAA	CLE	—	0.1	2	2	2	0	0	2
1964-06-06	LAA	NYY	L	0.2	2	2	2	0	1	0
1964-05-30	LAA	BAL	—	1.2	0	0	0	0	1	0
1964-05-27	LAA	MIN	—	5.2	5	3	1	2	3	1
1964-05-24	LAA	NYY	—	0.0	2	2	2	0	0	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Willie Smith — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	93	64	641	34	4	62
OF	339	298	459	17	12	2
P	29	3	5	12	0	2

Season-by-Season Fielding

Willie Smith — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1963	DET	P	11	2	1	4	0	0
1964	LAA	OF	87	80	128	2	3	0
1964	LAA	P	15	1	1	6	0	1
1965	CAL	1B	2	1	9	2	1	1
1965	CAL	OF	123	108	187	10	4	1
1966	CAL	OF	52	40	71	4	2	1
1967	CLE	1B	3	1	8	0	0	0
1967	CLE	OF	4	3	4	0	1	0
1968	CLE	1B	7	4	51	2	0	5
1968	CLE	OF	1	1	1	0	0	0
1968	CLE	P	2	0	1	1	0	1
1968	CHN	1B	4	1	16	1	0	0
1968	CHN	OF	38	36	42	1	0	0
1968	CHN	P	1	0	2	1	0	0
1969	CHN	1B	24	16	159	9	1	14
1969	CHN	OF	33	30	26	0	2	0
1970	CHN	1B	43	32	318	11	2	32
1970	CHN	OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
1971	CIN	1B	10	9	80	9	0	10

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Willie Smith (b. 1939) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	29
First Base	93
Left Field	287
Center Field	3
Right Field	55

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Willie Smith (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Willie Smith: the record in brief

June 18, 1963 and September 30, 1971 bracket Willie Smith's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. The season rows list, in order, the Detroit Tigers (1963), the Los Angeles Angels (1964), the California Angels (1965 to 1966), the Cleveland Indians (1967 to 1968), the Chicago Cubs (1968 through 1970), and the Cincinnati Reds (1971). At 6 feet, 0 inches and 182 pounds, Smith is listed as an outfielder. The bio says Smith batted and threw left-handed. Smith was born on February 11, 1939, in Anniston, AL, USA. The bio records the death on January 16, 2006, in Anniston, AL, USA.

Smith finished with 410 hits from 1,654 at bats in 691 games, which works out to .248, along with 46 home runs, 211 RBI, and 20 stolen bases. Reaching base at a .295 clip and slugging .395, Smith finished with a .689 OPS. Smith hit .248 while the league hit .247 over the same span, a figure close to average.

Frequently Asked Questions about Willie Smith

What years did Willie Smith play?: Willie Smith played in Major League Baseball from 1963 to 1971.
Was Willie Smith a pitcher?: Both. Willie Smith pitched in 29 games, going 2-4 with a 3.1 ERA, but spent most of his career as an Outfielder.
How many home runs did Willie Smith hit?: Willie Smith hit 46 career home runs with 410 hits.
What was Willie Smith's career batting average?: Willie Smith batted .248 over his career, with 410 hits in 1,654 at bats.
How many RBI did Willie Smith have?: Willie Smith drove in 211 runs in his career.
What was Willie Smith's career ERA?: Willie Smith finished with a 3.10 career ERA, going 2-4 with 39 strikeouts.