John Dwight Smith Sr. (November 8, 1963-July 22, 2022) was an American professional baseball player
who played for the Chicago Cubs, California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, and Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball between 1989 and 1996. He won the 1995 World Championship with the Braves.
Smith attended Wade Hampton High School in Farmville, South Carolina, and Spartanburg Methodist College.
The Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) selected Smith in the third round of the 1984 MLB Draft. Smith made his MLB debut with the Cubs in 1989. He batted .324 as a rookie, with nine home runs and 52 RBIs.
He finished second in the voting for the National League Rookie of the Year award behind teammate Jerome Walton, who collected 22 of the 24 first-place votes.
Smith received the other two. Smith fought back 3 for 15 (.200) for the Cubs in the 1989 National League championship series, which they lost to the San Francisco Giants. Smith struggled in 1990, striking out.
He lost his starting job with the Cubs in the 1991 season. He started the 1992 season in a platoon with Sammy Sosa playing left field but was demoted to the minor leagues from late April to late May after the start of the season .217.
In 1993, Smith had a .300 batting average and hit 11 career home runs. Under pressure to reduce their salary commitments, the Cubs did not offer Smith salary arbitration after the 1993 season, making him a free agent.
The California Angels signed Smith to a one-year contract for the 1994 season. When the Angels began to play Jim Edmunds instead of Smith, Smith asked for a deal.
On June 15, 1994, the Angels traded Smith to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later. For California and Baltimore, a .281 Smith had eight home runs and 30 RBIs in 73 games.
Smith signed a one-year contract worth $ 250 thousand with the Atlanta Braves for the 1995 season, agreeing to be a player on the bench. Smith appeared in the 1995 World Series as a member of the Braves, who won the series that season over the Cleveland Indians.
He batted .252 with three runs and 21 RBIs in 103 games during the 1995 season, re-signed with the Braves for the 1996 season, and agreed to a one-year contract with a salary of a dollar 350,000.
In 1997, Smith signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, an expansion team set to debut in 1998, and they assigned him to the Mexico City Tigers of the Mexican league for the 1997 season.
A sciatic nerve injury prevented Smith from playing, and he was released by The Devil Rays in May. After recovering, Smith played for the St. Paul Saints of the Northern League, an independent baseball league, in 1997. In 1998, he played for the Rochester Red Wings, a minor league affiliate of the Orioles.
1- Dwight Smith-the age
Date of Birth: November 8, 1963, Tallahassee, Florida, United States John Dwight Smith Sr. (November 8, 1963-July 22, 2022) was an American professional baseball player who played for the Chicago Cubs, California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, and Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball between 1989 and 1996. 1995 World Championship with the Braves.
2- Dwight Smith's death
Smith and his wife, Cheryl, had a son and two daughters. His son Dwight Smith Jr. played in MLB. Smith died on July 22, 2022, from heart and lung failure.