Intro

A burly right-handed pitcher, Frank Smith won 20 games twice and hurled two no-hitters for the White Sox in the early 1900s. A drinker, Smith battled the bottle for much of his career, but when he was sober he was an excellent pitcher. During the 1908 pennant race he abandoned the team after a feud with manager Fielder Jones, but eventually returned and helped the team battle for the flag. In a controversial move, Jones opted to pitch Doc White instead of a rested Smith on the final day of the season, and the White Sox lost the game and the pennant to Detroit.

Best Season

Smith set career-highs with 25 victories, 51 games, 40 starts, 37 complete games, 365 innings pitched, and 177 strikeouts. He posted a 1.80 ERA and hurled seven shutouts, including a pair of one-hitters. He would win just four more games for the White Sox before being traded to Boston. He won just 35 more games in his career after 1909.

Factoid 1

On Opening Day in 1910, on April 14, Frank Smith of the White Sox pitched a one-hit shutout, defeating the Browns, 3-0. The only hit came off the bat of Ray Demmitt. On the same day, in Washington, Walter Johnson also hurled an opening day one-hit shutout.

Transition

August 9, 1910: Traded by the Chicago White Sox with Billy Purtell to the Boston Red Sox for Harry Lord and Amby McConnell.

Weaknesses

Smith was wild - off the field and on the mound. He led the American League in walks in 1907 with 111, and was second in 1905, withy 107.

Feats

On September 6, 1905, in the second game of a doubleheader against Detroit, Smith pitched a no-hitter, winning by the score of 17-0. It's the most lopsided no-hitter in baseball history... On September 20, 1908, as Chicago battled both Cleveland and Detroit for the pennant, Smith no-hit the Athletics, in a thrilling 1-0 game. In the bottom of the ninth, as he's being intentionally walkjed by Eddie Plank, Chicago shortstop Freddy Parent reached out and stroked a single to score the only run of the game.

Description

According to Sam Bernstein, who wrote a biographical sketch of Smith for SABR, Smith was a heavy drinker.

AWOL for the 1908 Pennant Race

In the middle of the summer of 1908, Frank Smith deserted the White Sox after disagreements with manager Fielder Jones and team owner Charles Comiskey. “Prior to departing for Pittsburgh, Piano Smith went in to give Mr. Comiskey a hard call down," wrote the Chicago Tribune, "before Smithy could open his flow of language the boss said, ‘You’ve been threatening to quit for two years. Now then, pack up your duds and dig and I don’t care if you never come back.’ The pianist was peeved because he was asked to practice control and other things.” The "other things" was apparently a reference to Smith's drinking, which Jones felt was interfering with his performance. Late in July, Jones mended the fence with Smith and the pitcher returned to the fold. In a dramatic reversal of fortune, Smith twirled a no-hitter agsinst the Athletics on September 20. The Sox ended up finishing 1 1/2 games behind Detroit, in third place.