Quincy O. Smith [״Q״] was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 outfielder

Outfielder

Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...

 who played in Negro league baseball

Negro league baseball

The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...

 and the Minor leagues

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

. Listed at 5' 10, 171 lb., he was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. His older brother, Gene Smith

Gene Smith (Negro leagues pitcher)

Eugene F. ″Genie″ Smith was an American pitcher who played for several Negro league baseball teams between and . Listed at 6' 1", 185 lb., Smith was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He was born in Ansley, Louisiana...

, also played in the Negro and Minor leagues.

Smith entered the Negro Leagues in 1943, playing in part of two seasons for the Cleveland Buckeyes

Cleveland Buckeyes

The Cleveland Buckeyes were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro Leagues. They were established in 1942 in Cincinnati, Ohio . The following season, the team moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where they played their games at League Park...

 and the Pittsburgh Crawfords

Pittsburgh Crawfords

The Pittsburgh Crawfords, popularly known as the Craws, were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Named after the Crawford Grill, a club in the Hill District of Pittsburgh owned by Gus Greenlee, the Crawfords were originally a youth semipro team sponsored by...

 before joining the Birmingham Black Barons

Birmingham Black Barons

The Birmingham Black Barons played professional baseball for Birmingham, Alabama, in the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1960 when the Major Leagues successfully integrated...

 in 1945. He hit a .284 batting average

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 for Birmingham during the first half of the season, but jumped to the Mexico City Reds

Diablos Rojos del México

Diablos Rojos del México is a professional baseball team in the Mexican League.This team is located in Mexico City. The team name, Diablos Rojos del México, means Mexico City Red Devils. It is often believed that they are named after the Cincinnati Reds. That is, however, not the case...

 of the Mexican League for the rest of the year. Once Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 started signing Negro League talent, he received a shot at organized baseball from 1949 through 1953, but never made it to the majors.

Smith spent six years in the minor leagues, all in the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League

Mississippi-Ohio Valley League

The Mississippi-Ohio Valley League was an American minor league baseball league. It operated from 1949 through 1955.-1949:Teams from Belleville, Illinois, Centralia, Illinois, Marion, Illinois, Mattoon, Illinois, Mount Vernon, Illinois, and West Frankfort, Illinois moved from the Illinois State...

 while playing with four different teams. He compiled four seasons with a batting average over .300, with a career-high of .317 in 1952 as a member of the Paris Lakers

Paris Lakers

The Paris Lakers were a minor league baseball team which played in Paris, Illinois. The team played in the Midwest League from 1950-1959. The Lakers' home field was Twin Lakes Park....

. He also was selected for the All-Star Team that faced the Decatur Commodores

Decatur Commodores

The Decatur Commodores were a professional minor league baseball team based in Decatur, Illinois. They played, with sporadic interruptions, from 1900 to 1974 in a variety of minor leagues, but spent the majority of their existence in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League , later joining the...

 in the 1953 MSOH All-Star Game. Overall, he was a .305 hitter (788-for-2584), including 165 doubles

Double (baseball)

In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

, 55 triples

Triple (baseball)

In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

, 45 home run

Home run

In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

s, and a .454 slugging percentage in 653 games played.

After the end of his baseball career, Smith worked 21 years at Amatarp, General Cable Corporation, in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

. He also coached baseball at the American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

, in Paris, Illinois

Paris, Illinois

Paris is a city in Paris Township, Edgar County, Illinois, USA, south of Chicago, and west of Indianapolis. In 1900, 6,105 people lived in Paris, Illinois; in 1910, 7,664; and in 1940, 9,281. The population was 8,837 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Edgar County.-Geography:Paris is...

, and for a little league team in Terre Haute, Indiana

Terre Haute, Indiana

Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...

.

Sources