Several Black families resided in Kirkwood for decades before an expansion of Kirkwood Park cost them their longtime homes.
Among them were the Ming and Smith families. The Ming family has a plaque dedicated to its historic heritage near the south end of Walker Pond in Kirkwood Park.
A man named Alphonse Smith was born in a home in that area, which is now the southern boundary of the park.
Smith is one of the greatest athletes that Kirkwood has ever produced and is certainly the most accomplished baseball player. Al Smith (outfielder) – Wikipedia
In 1947, the season that Jackie Robinson first played for the National League’s Brooklyn Dodgers, Smith began his professional career with the Cleveland Buckeyes, a Negro League team.
Later that same 1947 season, Larry Doby would become the American League’s first Black player when he took the field for the Cleveland Indians.
As Robinson and Doby became All-Stars, Smith would catch the eye of Indians scouts and would sign with the team.
Smith would play for the Cleveland Indians (1953–57, 1964), Chicago White Sox (1958–62), Baltimore Orioles (1963) and Boston Red Sox (1964) during his 12-year Major League Baseball career.
A two-time American League All Star, Smith was named one of the “100 Greatest Indians” in 2003. Smith posted a lifetime .272 batting average, with 1,458 hits, 164 home runs, 676 RBIs and a .959 fielding average.
A reason that most Kirkwood residents, past and present, have no idea who Smith was is because the school district remained segregated until 1954. Smith’s amazing athletic accomplishments at the prep level happened at Douglass High School in Webster Groves.
In addition to his baseball talent, Smith scored 10 touchdowns in a high school football game and was a Golden Gloves boxing champion.
Smith was enshrined in the Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame of Ohio in 1993. The only reason I can think of him not being in either the respective St. Louis or Missouri Sports Hall of Fames is because he has not been nominated.
I’m making nominations for him to both bodies immediately.
On Saturday June 3, 2023, a plaque will be dedicated to Smith in Kirkwood Park. A ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. near the southwest corner of Walker Pond, a short distance from where Smith and other African American families called home.
Tatum, Celtics succumb in Game 7
Jayson “Game 7” Tatum and the Boston Celtics came within a game of NBA history. Down 3-0 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Final series against the upstart Miami Heat, the Celtics clawed back to tie the series.
Game 7 was in Boston. The Celtics were favored. It was shaping up to be “Tatum Time” in the series finale. 150 teams had fallen behind 3-0 in an NBA playoff series and 150 had failed to come back and win. The L.A. Lakers became No. 150 when the Denver Broncos swept them in four games last week.
The stage was set for something special to happen. It was not meant to be. Tatum suffered a sprained ankle on the Celtics’ first offensive possession and scored just 14 points in a 103-84 loss to the Heat.
“It was just frustrating that I was … a shell of myself,” a disappointed Tatum said after the game.
After the Celtics lost to Golden State in the NBA Finals last June, the team adopted the slogan “Unfinished Business” for the 2022-23 season. The business failed again this year.
The Reid Roundup
2023 Illinois Teacher of the Year Briana Morales threw out a ceremonial first pitch alongside two of her former students, Kendreah Jones and Malani Salazar, on May 24, 2023 at Wrigley Field. Morales is an English teacher at Gordon Bush Alternative Center in East St. Louis School District 189…After slumping at Triple A Memphis after being sent down by the St. Louis Cardinals, Jordan Walker is experiencing a resurgence. Through 14 games, he was hitting .154 with two home runs and 4 RBI. During his next 15 games, Jordan hit .264 with two home runs and 8 RBI. Outfielder Lars Nootbar left the Memorial Day game with back spasms and Tyler O’Neil remains on the injured list with no return in sight. Walker could be back with the big club soon.
