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Al Smith, 73; Got Doused in Series

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Al Smith, a major league outfielder whose accomplishments on the field were overshadowed when he was on the wrong end of a spilled beer during the 1959 World Series, has died. He was 73.

Smith died Jan. 3 of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Hammond, Ind., after undergoing arterial surgery.

The left fielder for the American League champion White Sox, Smith was doused with beer during the fifth inning of the second game of the series against the Dodgers. Dodger second baseman Charlie Neal had hit a line drive home run to left field at old Comiskey Park in Chicago that had forced Smith back to the wall. In an instant, a cup of beer toppled out of the stands and landed on Smith’s head.

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“It hit the bill of my cap and came down the side of my face,” Smith later recalled. “It was in my nose and everywhere. At first, I thought the guy dumped it on purpose, but the umpire told me that he just tipped it over trying to get the ball.”

(Neal hit another homer later in the game, and the Dodgers went on to win the game and the series. It was their first world championship after moving to Los Angeles.)

The image of Smith and the errant beer was immortalized by Ray Gora, a photographer for the Chicago Tribune. Working from a spot near third base and using what was then a fairly innovative camera with a rapid shutter and a 70-millimeter lens, Gora took an eight-frame series of photographs, which included Neal’s home run and the beer episode. The frame showing Smith covered with beer was widely reproduced over the years.

The incident seemed to overshadow Smith’s impressive career. Twice selected to the American League All-Star team, he finished second in hitting in 1960 with a .315 average. He also played for two American League champion teams.

Born in Kirkwood, Mo., Smith was a star athlete in high school, playing football and baseball, as well as boxing. He turned down college football scholarship offers, instead playing with the Cleveland Buckeyes of the Negro League, and he competed in the Negro League World Series against the New York Cuban Giants.

He was signed to a minor league contract by the Cleveland Indians in 1948 after leading the Negro League in batting in 1947. Smith spent several seasons in the minors before joining the pennant-winning Indians club of 1954. He was later traded to the White Sox for outfielder Minnie Minoso.

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Replacing the popular Minoso in Chicago proved difficult for Smith, who earned a steady chorus of boos his first season. But he rose to the occasion and made key hits in the White Sox pennant drive.

“It’s a shame: People all remember Al for the beer thing in 1959, but he was a good ballplayer besides,” Billy Pierce, a White Sox teammate of Smith, told the Chicago Tribune.

“He was a good clutch hitter and outfielder,” Pierce added. “His reputation seemed to hinge on the photo. Every time you were with Al, someone would bring it up. Al didn’t seem to mind it at all.”

Smith later played for the Baltimore Orioles, returned to the Indians and then went to the Boston Red Sox. He hit .272 over his career, with 164 home runs.

After his retirement, Smith worked for the parks department in Chicago, teaching baseball and later as a community relations representative for the White Sox.

He is survived by his wife, Mildred; two sons and two daughters; a brother; three sisters; and 11 grandchildren.

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