Clarence Smith
Career: 1921-1933
Positions: rf, 2b, 1b, manager
Teams: Columbus Buckeyes (1921), Detroit Stars (1922-1925, 1933), Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (1927), Birmingham Black Barons (1929-1930), Baltimore Black Sox (1930), Columbia American Giants (1931), Cleveland Cubs (1931)
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 5' 10'' Weight: 185
In 1927 he was the regular right fielder with the Eastern Colored League champion Bacharach Giants, hitting .353 from the fifth slot. Before coming to the Bacharachs he spent four seasons with the Detroit Stars, where he hit .286 and .340 in 1924-1925, while also batting in the fifth slot.
A smart ballplayer, after leaving the Bacharachs the outfielder took the helm of the Birmingham Black Barons, hitting .390 in 1929, and often filling in at other positions when needed. Leaving Birmingham, he played briefly as an outfielder with the Baltimore Black Sox and the Cleveland Cubs before joining David Malarcher's Columbia American Giants as a first baseman.
Most of his earlier years had been spent with the Detroit Stars, and he returned to Detroit to finish his career as a part-time starter in right field for the Stars in 1933. This was their last year in the Negro National League, and the team struggled to stay solvent but was unable to maintain a functioning franchise.
Source: James A. Riley, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1994.