Does Nate Smith ring a bell? He didn't seem familiar to me. So I looked him up, and found out that his middle name is Beverly. Though he was born in Chicago, Nate attended college at Tennessee State University in Nashville. The Dodgers signed him as an amateur free agent in 1956, but he never broke through to the majors. In mid-September of 1962, the then-27-year-old had his contract purchased by the Orioles, who hadn't had much production behind the plate that season. (Gus Triandos hit .159 with only 6 home runs in 66 games in his final season in Baltimore.) Smith saw action in five games during the season's final month, including three starts at catcher. He went 2-for-9 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
Those 11 plate appearances represented the entirety of Nate's big-league career. He played in 42 minor league games over the next couple of years, and that was it. According to
Baseball Reference, Smith is alive and well today at age 77. If anybody has more information, please enlighten me.
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