Wally Goldsmith

Warren M. Goldsmith (October 1849 – September 16, 1915) was an American professional baseball player in the 1860s and 1870s. He played third base, shortstop, second base, and catcher in the National Association, three times a regular player on one of the weakest teams in that first professional league.

Born in Baltimore, Goldsmith moved from the local Enterprise club to the Maryland late in the 1868 season, probably just short of his 20th birthday. Maryland was the strongest team in the city but it lost badly to Enterprise on September 1 (15-36) before winning twice, only 17-15 and 33-18, in the middle of the month. Goldsmith evidently won a "job" in those three matches. [In the incomplete record compiled by Wright (2000), Goldsmith played 9 games for Enterprise and 6 for Maryland. Enterprise played 12 games but only 10 with box scores, including one after the third Maryland game. So he left the team before or after its finale with the Cincinnati Red Stockings, September 26. Maryland played at least five games in October with some other dates unknown.]

Goldsmith was a marginal player in the National Association, able to play at that level only with teams that would not survive. Indeed, he played all 19 games for Kekionga in 1871, all nine for Olympic in 1872, and all 13 for Western in 1875. In 1873 he played one game for his old Maryland club, which dropped out after playing six games against Baltimore and Washington opposition.

Notes

References

*Retrosheet. [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Pgoldw101.htm "Wally Goldsmith"] . Retrieved 2006-09-07.
*Wright, Marshall (2000). "The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870". Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. ISBN 0-7864-0779-4