Clyde Smoll

{{short description|American baseball player (1914–1985)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Clyde Smoll |position=Pitcher |image= |bats=Both |throws=Left |birth_date={{Birth date|1914|04|17}} |birth_place=Quakertown, Pennsylvania |death_date={{death date and age|1985|08|31|1914|04|17}} |death_place=Quakertown, Pennsylvania |debutleague = MLB |debutdate= April 26 |debutyear= 1940 |debutteam= Philadelphia Phillies |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=September 12 |finalyear=1940 |finalteam= Philadelphia Phillies |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Win–loss record |stat1value=2–8 |stat2label=Earned run average |stat2value=5.37 |stat3label=Strikeouts |stat3value=31 |teams= * Philadelphia Phillies ({{mlby|1940}}) }}

'''Clyde Hetrick "Lefty" Smoll''' (April 17, 1914 – August 31, 1985) was a professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the 1940 Philadelphia Phillies.

==Biography== On April 26, 1940, Smoll made his major league debut, starting against the Brooklyn Dodgers, whose starting pitcher was Freddie Fitzsimmons.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1940/B04260PHI1940.htm |title=Brooklyn Dodgers 6, Philadelphia Phillies 0 |date=April 26, 1940 |website=retrosheet.org |accessdate=October 9, 2019}}</ref> Smoll allowed four runs, two earned, in six innings of work, saddling him with the loss. Smoll made 33 appearances in 1940, starting nine games and going 2–8 with a 5.37 ERA. In 109 innings, he allowed 145 hits and 36 walks while striking out 31 batters. He played his final big league game on September 12.

Smoll also spent 10 seasons pitching in the minor leagues, going 79–94 in 337 games. He pitched in the minors until 1946. He managed in the minor leagues from 1948 to 1950, skippering the Rome Colonels the first two years and the West Palm Beach Indians in the last.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=smoll-001cly |title=Lefty Smoll Minor Leagues Statistics & History |website=baseball-reference.com |publisher=sports-reference.com |accessdate=October 9, 2019}}</ref>

Smoll died in the city of his birth, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, on August 31, 1985.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/S/Psmoll101.htm |title=Lefty Smoll |website=retrosheet.org |accessdate=October 9, 2019}}</ref> A son, Clyde Jr., bought the minor league Elmira Pioneers in 1986,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73592580/quakertown-man-buys-dream-a-baseball/ |title=Quakertown man buys dream: a baseball team |first=Dan |last=Fricker |newspaper=The Morning Call |location=Allentown, Pennsylvania |page=40 |date=November 12, 1986 |accessdate=March 16, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> and owned the team for a decade.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Baseballstats |mlb=122476 |espn= |br=s/smollle01 |fangraphs=|brm=smoll-001cly |retro=Psmoll101 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smoll, Clyde}} Category:1914 births Category:1985 deaths Category:Sportspeople from Quakertown, Pennsylvania Category:Baseball coaches from Pennsylvania Category:Baseball players from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Category:Minor league baseball managers Category:Philadelphia Phillies players Category:20th-century American sportsmen