Clarence Smith

Clarence M. Smith, 1895 - 1969

Clarence Smith was one of Cumberland's outstanding baseball pitchers of a half-century ago. Better known as, "Cannonball" or "Bullet-Ball" due to his blazing fast balls, he was the strike-out king and ace pitcher for John Brown's "Cumberland Cubs." From 1923 to 1925 Smith pitched for the Fairmont, West Virginia Giants and in one game struck out 20 players, only to lose the game by one run to the Harrisburg Giants by a score of 5 to 4.

Smith retired as an active player in about 1925. He managed the Fulton Myers Post in the Interstate League and was the first black to play on a local white team. He was gentleman in every sense of the word and a great addition to semi-pro baseball in this area.

Other members of the Cumberland Cubs included Catcher Earl Simms (Smith's battery mate), the Parker brothers (Mose and Bob), Pete Davis, Harry Cooper, Eddie Francis, Frankie Johnson, Lawrence Males, Sr., Elwood Denmark, Jesse Yates, and Fred Johnson.