Roy Smalley III

Roy Frederick Smalley III (born October 25, 1952) is an American former professional baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1975 through 1987 for the Texas Rangers (1975–76), Minnesota Twins (1976–82; 1985–87), New York Yankees (1982–84), and Chicago White Sox. Smalley was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. His father, Roy Jr., was also an MLB league shortstop, and his uncle, Gene Mauch, was a long-time MLB manager and infielder.

Amateur career Drafted out of Westchester High School in Los Angeles in 1970 by the Montreal Expos, Smalley played college baseball for one year at Los Angeles City College, then transferred to the University of Southern California. He was part of the 1972 and 1973 College World Series championship teams under longtime head coach Rod Dedeaux. Smalley was named an All-American and received All-College World Series honors in 1973.

He was drafted four times by major league teams between 1970 and 1973 without signing. Smalley was selected by the Montreal Expos in the 35th round of the June 1970 draft, by the Boston Red Sox in the 4th round of the January 1971 draft, by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd round of the June 1971 draft, and again by the Red Sox in the 5th round of the January 1972 draft. Smalley was the number one overall pick in the January 1974 amateur draft by the Rangers. Following his junior year, he stayed out of school in the fall of 1973 to be eligible for the January free agent draft.

Professional career

Rangers After signing in January, Smalley had wrist surgery in February, injured while playing semi-pro ball in December. He was sent to the Pittsfield Rangers in the Double-A Eastern League, hitting .251 with 14 home runs and 42 RBI. Following a stint with the Triple-A Spokane Indians in the Pacific Coast League, Smalley was promoted to the big leagues permanently, seeing time in 78 games for the Rangers in 1975, hitting .228 with 3 home runs. Smalley started the 1976 season back in Texas, but did not improve on his 1975 average.

Twins On June 1, 1976, Smalley was traded to the Twins, along with Texas infielder Mike Cubbage, pitchers Jim Gideon and Bill Singer and cash, for Bert Blyleven and shortstop Danny Thompson, who was battling leukemia. Smalley was inserted into the Twins' starting lineup and manned shortstop until 1982.

Smalley's best season came in 1979, when he was voted the starting shortstop for the American League in the All-Star game. After the first half of the season, Smalley had the second-highest batting average in the major leagues (.341). Smalley established career highs in runs, RBIs, and home runs, and was named the shortstop on The Sporting News AL All-Star team. He also led the league in games played, plate appearances, all fielders in assists, and all shortstops in putouts, John did note that Smalley was a much better hitter than Bucky Dent. Smalley worked for Bally Sports North as an analyst during Minnesota Twins games. In 2010, Smalley opened a restaurant near Target Field, called Smalley's '87 Club, which closed in February 2012. As of 2022, Smalley serves as the President on the Board of Directors for the nonprofit organization Pitch in for Baseball. He was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013.