On July 29th, 1955, Smoky Burgess of the Cincinnati Reds hit three home runs and drove in nine runs in a 16-5 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Crosley Field.

“Smoky Burgess did not possess the physique of a Greek god, nor even that of the average major leaguer. Standing in at a pudgy 5’8”, Burgess was saddled with such unflattering descriptions as ‘a walking laundry bag’ and ‘barely fit enough to play for the Moose Lodge softball team.’ Physical conditioning aside, nobody debates that Smoky Burgess could hit at any time, against any pitcher, in any situation.”
(Sturgill, Andy. Sweet ’60: The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. SABR, 2 April 2013. Page 16.)

Smoky Burgess played in the Major Leagues for 18 years, beginning in 1949 and ending in 1967. I had a few Smoky Burgess cards growing up, including the one pictured above.

Looking at his Baseball Reference Page, you can see that he made 9 All-Star games. That surprised me. When I paying attention to baseball and baseball cards, he was just a funny looking guy with a great nickname. But you don’t last 18 years in the Big Leagues on your nickname alone.

Smoky was born in 1927 in Caroleen, North Carolina, which according to Wikipedia had a population of 560 in 2020. Smoky, as you would expect, is listed as the only “notable” person born there. I sure hope there is a sign of some kind for him there. He died in 1991 in Ashville, North Carolina.

Smoky was apparently a left-handed batter even though he threw as a right-handed. That is probably another reason that did a lot of Pinch Hitting and why his career was so long.

Here is a short list of other Catchers who batted lefty but threw right-handed:

• Joe Mauer
• Yogi Berra
• Darren Daulton
• Mike Scioscia
• A. J. Pierzynski

Not a bad group to be included in, huh?