Lyall Smith

Lyall F. Smith (November 22, 1914 – October 8, 1991) was an American sports writer and editor. He was the sports editor and columnist for the Detroit Free Press from 1945 to 1965 and the president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America from 1955 to 1956. He later served as the public relations director and business manager for the Detroit Lions from 1965 to 1980.

Lyall Smith
BornNovember 22, 1914
Peoria, Illinois
DiedOctober 8, 1991 (1991-10-09) (aged 76)
Detroit, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
OccupationSportswriter

Early years

A native of Peoria, Illinois, he attended Bradley University and the University of Illinois. He was inducted into the Bradley University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1950.[1]

Smith began his career in journalism as a reporter for the Chicago Daily News.[2] He spent seven years with the Chicago Daily News from 1938 to 1945.[3] He claimed to have given the "Whiz Kids" nickname to the 1943 Illinois basketball team.[4]

Detroit Free Press

In March 1945, Smith was hired as the sports editor and columnist at the Detroit Free Press, a position he held until 1965.[5][6]

During his time with the Free Press Smith was included in the committee of baseball writers charged with selecting the American League Most Valuable Player.[7][8]

In 1947, Smith became involved in a controversy over competing claims to the national collegiate football championship by undefeated teams from Notre Dame and Michigan. Notre Dame was ranked No. 1 in the final regular season AP Poll, but Michigan went on to defeat USC by a score of 49-0 in the Rose Bowl. Smith urged the Associated Press to conduct a post-bowl poll, arguing that Michigan had defeated three common opponents by larger margins than Notre Dame and had a tougher schedule.[9] After Smith's comments, the AP agreed to conduct a post-bowl poll, the first of its kind,[10][11] and Michigan was selected as the national champion in that poll by a vote of 226 to 119.[12][13] After the results were tallied, Smith wrote in The Sporting News, "Michigan won another football battle!"[14]

Also in January 1947, Smith broke the story of the Detroit Tigers' decision to sell Hank Greenberg to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Smith reported that Tigers owner Walter O. Briggs had read comments from Greenberg about his desire to play for the Yankees and concluded that "Greenberg was ungrateful, unkind and unfair to Detroit," and ordered the team's general manager to "get rid of Hank."[15]

In August 1948, three days after the death of Babe Ruth from cancer, Smith proposed that Major League Baseball designate September 30, 1948 as "Babe Ruth Day" and that all proceeds from games played on that day be donated to cancer research.[16][17]

Smith's 1948 tribute to Harry Heilmann, former batting champ and radio voice of the tigers, was published in The Sporting News. Smith wrote:

"[H]e is so good that if he gets any better there'll be no more attendance records set at Briggs Stadium. After all, who wants to leave that nice, soft easy chair to be pushed around with 50,000 other fans when he can stay right at home and get a word picture ... with anectodes ... of the game. Only thing wrong with his broadcasts is that you hate to get out of your chair and rush to the ice box to get a bottle of that cool stuff he mentions now and then."[18]

In October 1954, Smith was elected as the vice president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.[19]

In the spring of 1955, Smith asked readers to submit ideas for a nickname for the Tigers' star right-fielder Al Kaline. From the submissions, Smith chose "Salty," which the reader explained, "After all, salt means alkaline."[20]

In September 1955, he was elected as the president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and served in that role in 1956.[21][22] Smith also served as a director of the Football Writers Association of America for several years.[3]

Smith was chosen as the chief scorer for the 1956 World Series,[23] and was the scorer for Don Larsen's perfect game in the World Series.[2] Fellow sportswriter Arthur Daley noted, "By the ninth inning, the most nervous people in the ball park, bar none, were the three official scorers, Lyall Smith of Detroit and his two assistants ... They were terrified that a questionable decision would confront them and ruin Larsen's performance for posterity."[24] Larsen, too, acknowledged that he was not the only nervous person at Yankee Stadium as the game progressed, acknowledging the scrutiny that would be given to any close calls by Smith as he sat in the press box as the official scorer.[25]

In May 1965, Smith was chosen to serve a five-year term on the board of directors of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.[26]

Detroit Lions

In September 1965, Smith left the Free Press to accept a position as the public relations director for the Detroit Lions.[3] In January 1967, Smith took on the additional title and responsibility as the Lions' business manager.[27] Over the next 15 years, Smith was employed by the Lions as their public relations director,[28] business manager, and director of marketing.[29] When the Lions moved to the Pontiac Silverdome in 1975, Smith was responsible for coordinating the move and organized an exhibition day game in August 1975 for fans to orient themselves and tour the new facility.[30] He remained with the Lions throughout the 1970s.[31][32]

Death

Smith died of heart failure in 1991 at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.[33]

Selected articles by Smith

References
  1. "Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame (R-S)". Bradley University. July 7, 2011. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  2. "Lyall Smith, Retired Detroit Sports Editor , Dies at 76". Peoria Journal Star. October 11, 1991.
  3. "Lyall Smith Joins Lions". Traverse City Record Eagle (Traverse City, Michigan) (UPI story). September 7, 1965.
  4. Ed Burns (October 18, 1950). "Bouncing Around". The Sporting News. p. 12.
  5. Frank Angelo (1981). On Guard, A History of the Detroit Free Press. Detroit Free Press. p. 196. ISBN 0-9605692-1-9.
  6. "Minors Reserve Right to Okay Commissioner". The Sporting News. March 8, 1945.
  7. "24 on Writers' Committee Selecting Most Valuable". The Sporting News. November 20, 1946.
  8. "24 Writers on Committee Selecting Most Valuable". The Sporting News. December 1, 1948. p. 2.
  9. Smith, Lyall (1948-01-04). "Michigan or Notre Dame? Hot Argument Still Raging Throughout U.S.". Florence (S.C.) Morning News.
  10. "AP to Conduct Special Poll". Ironwood Daily Globe. 1948-01-03.
  11. "Michigan Winner Nearly 2-1 Over Irish in AP Poll". Albuquerque Journal. 1948-01-07.
  12. Chandler, John (1948-01-07). "Scribes of Nation Pick Michigan: A.P.'s Poll Favors Wolverines; Final Vote Stands at 226-119". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  13. "With Men Who Know Football Best: It's Michigan 2 to 1 Over Notre Dame". The Amarillo Daily News. 1948-01-07.
  14. Lyall Smith (January 14, 1948). "It's All Over Now -- and It's Mich. Over Irish: 72 Per Cent of Grid Experts Give Nod to Wolverines as No. 1 Team". The Sporting News. p. 29.
  15. "Paper Says Briggs Ordered Hank's Sale". Stars and Stripes. January 26, 1947. p. 10.
  16. "Babe Ruth Day Proposed for September 30". The Times Recorder (Zanesville, Ohio) (AP story). August 20, 1948.
  17. "Memorials Of Many Types Proposed to Commemorate Ruth". The Sporting News. September 1, 1948. p. 11.
  18. Lyall Smith (September 1, 1948). "It's Heilmann Day at Last -- Harry Once Lost Homer Batting in Other's Turn". The Sporting News. p. 10.
  19. "Lyall Smith Elected". Holland Evening Sentinel (Holland, Michigan) (UP story). October 2, 1954.
  20. "Reader Picks 'Salty' as Kaline's Nickname". Iowa City Press Citizen (Iowa City, Iowa). May 5, 1955.
  21. "Lyall Smith at Helm: Detroiter Is Elected Chairman of Baseball Writers" (PDF). The New York Times. September 30, 1955.
  22. "Constitution, Addendum B, BBWAA Presidents". Baseball Writers' Association of America.
  23. "Smith Named Chief Scorer". St. Joseph Gazette. October 2, 1956.
  24. Arthur Daley (October 9, 1956). "SPORTS OF THE TIMES: While Baseball History Was Being Made". The New York Times.
  25. Don Larsen (2006). The Perfect Yankee. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 139. ISBN 1-58261-336-2.
  26. "Name 12 to Hall of Fame Board". Ironwood Daily Globe (Ironwood, Michigan)(AP story). May 27, 1964.
  27. "Joe Schmidt Delays Signing of Lions Contract". Traverse City Record Eagle (Traverse City, Michigan) (UPI story). January 10, 1967.
  28. "Detroit Lions Sign Top Draft Choices". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. April 4, 1967.
  29. "Kappa Upsilon Alum". Lambda Chi Alpha.
  30. "Lions to Open at New Home Against Chiefs". Ironwood Daily Globe (Ironwood, Michigan) (AP story). March 5, 1975.
  31. Terry Bledsoe (October 5, 1971). "Alex Will Miss His Pals". The Milwaukee Journal.
  32. "Windsor In Running for Lions Training". The Windsor Star. April 4, 1979.
  33. "Lyall Smith, Ex-Sports Editor and Lions Official, Dies at 76". The Detroit News. October 10, 1991.
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