1976 Hostess #30 - Reggie Smith

• Reggie Smith was an All Star in three seasons (1972, 1974, 1975) during this five-year run
• Smith led the AL in doubles and in total bases in 1972
• Reggie got off to a slow start in 1976. In the first ten weeks of the season he was batting .281 with eight home runs in 47 games.
• Smith was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Joe Ferguson and two minor leaguers on June 15, 1976
• Reggie was happy to go back to where he was born and raised.
• Smith performed better in Los Angeles, batting .280 with ten home runs. He was out for three weeks with an injury in August.
• Smith felt that baseball had made progress in hiring blacks in management positions, but he said that the sport had a ways to go.
• After the 1976 season Reggie underwent left shoulder surgery. He bounced back to have two good years in 1977 and in 1978.
• In mid-October 1976 Smith made news when his beaded necklace that had been stolen from Dodger Stadium turned up in the home of two Los Angeles youths who were selling stolen merchandise.
• Before peak, peak, or after peak? peak (but 1976 was an off-year)