Perk Smith
Ballplayers Wounded in Combat
| Date and Place of Birth: | circa 1914 Conshohocken, PA |
| Date and Place of Death: | Unkown |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
Robert E. "Perk" Smith, Jr., the son of Robert and Anna Smith, was born in 1914, in Conshohocken, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Perk Smith, a lean left-handed pitcher, helped Conshohocken High School
win the Montgomery County section of the Class C Suburban League in
1929, and a further three titles, including a no-hitters against
Springfield, Radnor and Media before garduating in 1932. Regarded as the
greatest athlete to ever play at Conshohocken High School, he was
scouted by numerous major league teams but it was the Yankees and
Phillies who made the most noise, and Smith chose to go with the
Phillies.
Immediately upon graduating he worked out regularly with the team in
Philadelphia, and Phillies' preseident, Gerry Nugent, regarded Smith as
one of the most likely-looking prospects he had seen in many seasons.
Smith travelled west with the Phillies during the season and pitched in
several exhibition games.
In 1933, Smith was playing semi-pro ball with the Conshohocken High
Club, when, on the morning of May 16, he received a telegram asking him
to report to the Richmond Colts of the Class B Piedmont League. Smith
left by train later that day. What happened is unclear, but it appears
he did not play professional baseball that season. By August, he was
back in Conshohocken, playing with the High Club.
Over the next few years, he continued to play semi-pro baseball with the
Spring Mill Fire Company in the local Twilight League. In 1938, aged 24,
he gave professional baseball another try and hurled for Easton and
Milford in the Class D Eastern Shore League. In 27 games, he was 9-6
with a 4.12 ERA.
Despite the decent showing, Smith was able to make more money playing
semi-pro baseball together with having a decent job and returned to
Conshohocken, where he worked at the W.C. Hamilton paper mill as a
trimmer, and played ball with the W.C. Hamilton team and the Lloyd
Athletic Club in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Lloyd team was a renowned
semi-pro club at the time that played against all the top touring negro
teams of the time.
Smith, who was married to Irene (Bickhardt) and had a four-year-old
daughter, Carole, entered military service in January 1944. By July of
the same year, Corporal Smith was overseas in Europe. Just a month
later, on August 18, 1944, he was seriously wounded in action in France,
and hospitalized until November.
Promoted to sergeant during this time, he returned to limited service
due to impaired vision caused by the wound, and worked with the
Quartermaster Laundry Company in Germany.
After the war, Perk Smith moved with his family to Palo Alto,
California.
Date Added December 31, 2017
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