Hilton Smith

By David Marasco

In 1945 army lieutenant Hilton Smith went to his old boss J.L. Wilkinson. He told Wilkinson that the Kansas City Monarchs should sign a young player named Jackie Robinson. The rest, as they say, is history. However, Hilton Smith should be remembered as more than just the answer to an arcane trivia question. He was the anchor of the Kansas City pitching staff for many years, even with Satchel Paige on the team. He pitched in six East-West All-Star games, which is one more than either Satchel Paige or Bill Byrd, and tied with only Leon Day. He was also reputed as having one of the best curveballs in the league. While he may have not have had the flash of a Paige or a Smokey Joe Williams, he was one of the most effective pitchers of his day. According to the Negro Leagues Book, Hilton Smith either topped the Negro American League in wins or shared the title from 1938 through 1942.

While there is no copper lady standing in the harbor, the port of Gavelston in Texas was one of the major gates to America. Immigrants from all parts of Europe and the Americas came to Texas to lead new lives. In a small German settlement named Giddings, Hilton Smith was born in 1912. As his father was a teacher, Smith valued education, and attended Prairie View A&M for two years. Here he started his career. At that time, the Texas Negro Leagues existed as a type of minor league system for the more established Negro League franchises. This league acted as did most minor leagues of the time. Today's farm system was pioneered by Branch Rickey during his tenure with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 30's. Prior to that minor league teams would develop talent in order that they could sell the contracts of their stars at a high premium. Selling a Babe Ruth or a Lefty Grove could bring large amounts of money to a team. In this case, Hilton Smith pitched for a team known as the Austin Black Senators. While Austin today is believed to be the largest American city without a professional baseball franchise, residents should be proud to know that their city does have some baseball heritage. Smith's breakthrough game came against the Chicago American Giants, he was able to beat them by a score of 4-3.

Following Smith through the Negro Leagues is a little hard at first, but once he hit his stride, he stayed with the Kansas City Monarchs. This time refering to the rosters section of the Negro Leagues Book, we can trace his way to Kansas City. In 1932 he is listed as a reserve pitcher for a team known as the Monroe Monarchs. The next year he became one of the starters for the New Orleans Crecent Stars, a good Southern team that would play the big Northern teams when they came down for Spring training. According to Donn Rogosin's text Invisible Men, Smith also barnstormed with the Austin Black Senators through Mexico and back. 1934 through 1936 find no Hilton Smith on any rosters, but James Riley has him pitching for the Monroe Monarchs, a team not covered in the Negro Leagues Book for those years. Both the New Orleans team and the Monroe (Louisiana) Monarchs were affiliated with the Negro Southern League, an organization that except for a year or two was of lesser quality than the more establised leagues and independent teams. Starting in 1937 Smith is listed as a frontline pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs, although it appears as if he was barnstorming with them in 1936. Beginning in 1939 was the Monarch's dominance over the Negro American League. Hilton's arrival coincided with the 1937 NAL championship. After a second-place finish in 1938 the Monarchs would go on to win titles in 1939, 40, 41 and 42. An astute reader will remember that this overlaps the period where Smith lead the league in wins. In the 1942 series, he would see a reversal of the traditional roles played by himself and Satchel. In the second game, Hilton started and went five innings, leaving with a 5-0 lead. Satchel then came in to relieve him, and finished the game with a 8-4 victory. Hilton Smith himself recounts this tale in John Holway's Voices from the Great Black Baseball Leagues, "Hilton," started Satchel, " you've been relieving me all this year, let me relieve you, just to see what we can do."

In 1943 he suffered an injury, and would never be the same pitcher. As he was very good with the bat, he would play outfield and first. Still, he was at heart a pitcher. While at times he would seem to regain his old form, he would not return to the East-West game. He would stay with the Monarchs for more than a decade, retiring in 1948 from a game that now saw the daylight of integration. In Holway's text he explains why he didn't cross the color barrier. As it turns out he was making quite a bit of money as Satchel's relief. He knew that the Dodgers were a loaded team, and that he would have to spend several years in the minors. In order to play in "organized" ball, he would have to take a drastic pay cut. He felt that at his age it just wasn't worth it. He would go on to be a school teacher after his baseball days were done.

Since the multiple-game dynamic of a World Series was difficult for the average Negro League fan to support during the Great Depression, the highlight of the season was the East-West game. All of the stars would meet in Chicago's Comiskey Park once a year to show off their skills to the world. Hilton Smith pitched in his first East-West game in 1937. He would get tagged with the loss. On the other hand, he would return every year for the next 5 years, a testament to his ability as most pitchers made only one or two appearances. While he would give up the starting role to Ted Trent in 37, Willie Cornelius in 38, Theolic "Fireball" Smith in 39 and Gene Brummer in 40, Smith would start in both 41 and 42. Very few men have started two East-West games. Between 1933 and 1945, only three did so back to back: Slim Jones 34-5, Hilton Smith 41-2 and Verdell Mathis 44-5.

The fact that he relieved many a great pitcher in the East-West games was nothing new for Hilton Smith. If he is not remembered as the one who got Jackie Robinson into the Negro Leagues, then he is recalled as Satchel Paige's finisher. At the time, Satchel was pitching every day in order to maximize the draw at the gate. After Satchel would go through the first three or four innings, Smith would come in and pitch the rest of the game. Many opponents of that era commented that Smith was the better of the two. Rogosin has teammate Buck O'Neil claiming that "Hilton Smith was probably the greatest pitcher in the world in 1942." Riley's tome has Bob Feller making a similar remark in October of 1941.

In the end, while Hilton Smith may not have had the name appeal of many of his contemporaries, he was one of the great pitchers of the Negro Leagues. He was a solid member of a rotation that led the Monarchs through a pre-war dynasty, leading the league in wins and making the East-West game almost every year in that 5 year span. Upon retirement, Riley quotes a record of 161-32 in league contests. Although his name has been overshadowed by Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige, their careers intertwined in an intricate fashion. He should not remembered as second hand talent scout for Branch Rickey or as a faceless reliever who came to the mound when Satchel's arm tired, but as one of the best pitchers of his time.