The Cardinals Got Their Man a Bit Late
But another eventually came back to the nest
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1978 Topps Rookie Outfielders (#710) - Card of the Day
The St. Louis Cardinals were bound and determined to add Keith Smith to their organization, no matter how long it took.
At least, that’s what Smith’s transactional history seems to show.
The young outfielder first came onto the Cards’ radar in 1972 when they picked him in the seventh round of the January draft. That was a bit too low for Smith’s liking, though, and he returned for the spring semester — and baseball season — at the State College of Florida.
That June, the Texas Rangers took Smith in the fourth round of the secondary phase of the draft, and he signed on the dotted line. For their part, the Cards made only one pick in that phase of the draft, selecting right-hander Ray Humphries.
Smith left thoughts of the Cardinals behind and started his climb through the Texas system, spending the rest of 1972 with the Low-A Geneva Senators.
From there, Smith moved on to Single A, Double A, and Triple A in successive summers, entering the 1977 season the cusp of the majors after hitting .325 with 23 home runs and 73 RBI at Sacramento in 1976.
But when Texas moved their Triple-A affiliation to the Tucson Toros, they sent Smith along for the ride, and he hit .323 with 19 dingers and 77 RBI. He also boosted his stolen base total to 14, flashing the speed that had made him a 20-steal threat in the low minors.
The Rangers had finally seen enough and called up Smith as the dog days dawned. He made his big league debut on August 2, against the White Sox at Comiskey Park.
Smith drew the start in left field and went 0-for-3, but he drew a walk, scored a run, and recorded his first major league putout in the field. The Rangers won 9-8, pushing them 11 games over .500.
The American League West was tough that year, though, and the 94-68 Rangers would finish eight games behind the 102-win Royals.
Along the way, Smith saw action in another 22 games, including 17 starts in left. Overall, he hit .239 with 2 homers, 6 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. That performance nabbed him a tiny slice of real estate in Topps’ 1978 set, sharing a rookie card with Dell Alston, Rick Bosetti, and Mike Easler.
It also got Smith another full season at Triple-A Tucson in 1978, then traded to — yes! — the Cardinals for Tommy Toms before the 1979 season.
St. Louis had their man, but they wanted to take another look at him before bringing him up, so Smith spent most of 1979 with the Triple-A Springfield Redbirds before getting a September call-up. In six games in the bigs, he hit just .231 with no extra-base hits.
It was more of the same in 1980, with Smith splitting time between Springfield and St. Louis, making his final major league appearance on October 5.
Then, at age 28, Smith gave it one last go, spending all of 1981 in the minors while splitting his time among four organizations — the Cardinals, Yankees, Mets, and Orioles.
Today, Keith Smith turns 71 years old. You think his birthday cake has a Rangers or Cardinals helmet on it?
The Cincinnati Kid
One of Smith’s teammates on the 1980 Cardinals was Leon Durham, a guy who tormented Reds pitchers to the tune of .316, 15 home runs, 49 RBI, and 12 steals in 307 plate appearances across the next decade.
I always dreaded seeing him come to town, and that went double when the Reds traded Pat Perry to acquire Bull during the 1988 season. Durham hit .216 with just one dinger in 21 games for his hometown team before wrapping up back in St. Louis in 1989.
By then, Upper Deck was pushing out the strange-looking card you see above (#354). Read all about right here.
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It took all week, but I was able to end on a (sorta) high note, talking about a Cincinnati native and a one-time Red.
Doesn’t get any better than that for this Riverfront dreamer. Well, you know, unless the Reds win something. That would definitely be better.
And hopefully the weekend will be better than the week for all of us. It’s the weekend, after all, so the prospects seem solid.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam