caption finalyear death_date death_place bats birth_place debutyear finaldate statvalue position finalteam statlabel debutdate birth_date article_title debutteam name throws
smith in 1969 1945 24 november 1977 boynton beach , florida left new london , missouri 1945 september 27 .212 43 11 662 -- 612 manager , outfielder philadelphia athletics batting average hits runs batted in managerial win-loss record june 24 17 january 1915 mayo smith
 philadelphia athletics mayo smith right
mayo smith

edward mayo `` catfish '' smith -lrb- january 17 , 1915 -- november 24 , 1977 -rrb- was an american baseball player , manager , and scout .
he had a 38-year career in professional baseball from 1933 to 1971 .
he is also the namesake of the `` mayo smith society , '' the detroit tigers international fan club that awards the `` king tiger award '' each year .
smith served as the manager of the philadelphia phillies -lrb- 1955 -- 1958 -rrb- , cincinnati reds -lrb- 1959 -rrb- , and detroit tigers -lrb- 1967 -- 1970 -rrb- , compiling a managerial record of 662 -- 612 -lrb- -rrb- .
he received the sporting news manager of the year award in 1968 after the tigers won the american league pennant by 12 games with a record of 103 -- 59 -lrb- -rrb- and defeated the st. louis cardinals in the 1968 world series .
espn has ranked smith 's decision to move mickey stanley to shortstop for the 1968 world series as the third `` gutsiest call '' in sports history .
smith also played professional baseball for 18 seasons from 1933 to 1950 , including one season of major league baseball with the philadelphia athletics in 1945 .
he spent his most productive years in the international league playing for the toronto maple leafs -lrb- 1937 -- 1939 -rrb- and buffalo bisons -lrb- 1940 -- 1944 -rrb- and in the pacific coast league with the portland beavers -lrb- 1946 -- 1948 -rrb- .
smith also spent 13 years in the new york yankees organization as a minor league manager from 1949 to 1954 and as a `` super scout '' and `` trouble shooter '' from 1959 to 1966 .
