Sports
Mayo Smith
1915–1977 · baseball manager
Manager of the 1968 world champion Tigers, remembered for his daring World Series move of center fielder Mickey Stanley to shortstop.
- Born
New London, Missouri- Died
Boynton Beach, Florida
aged 62- Birth name
- Edward Mayo Smith
- Also known as
- Catfish
- Detroit years
- 1967–1970
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Mayo Smith had played only one major-league season and managed Philadelphia and Cincinnati when the Tigers hired him in 1967. His first Detroit team lost the pennant on the final day. In 1968 his club won 103 games and the American League title. Facing the St. Louis Cardinals, Smith made one of the boldest decisions in World Series history: to keep Al Kaline's bat in the lineup, he moved Kaline back to right field and put his Gold Glove center fielder, Mickey Stanley, at shortstop, a position Stanley had barely played. Jim Northrup shifted to center. The gamble worked, and Detroit came back from a three-games-to-one deficit to win the championship. Smith managed the Tigers through 1970. Today the Tigers' international fan club, the Mayo Smith Society, carries his name and hands out an annual "King Tiger" award.
Highlights
- Managed the Tigers 1967–1970
- Won the 1968 World Series after trailing three games to one
- Moved center fielder Mickey Stanley to shortstop for the Series
- Namesake of the Mayo Smith Society, the Tigers' international fan club
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1967–1970
Tiger Stadium (site)
Demolished · 1912–1999
Home of his 1968 champions; demolished in 2008–2009.