This contract is between John Ford Smith and Ethiopian Clowns (Syd Pollock – owner). The contract is for the 1941 baseball season. It calls for Smith to be paid a percent sum of game revenues with a minimum of $ 150.00 as a salary. One of the interesting things about this player contract is that Pollock had his own one page contract form, rather than using a Standard Uniform Player’s Agreement Contract. The period of the contract was from June 16 to September 30, 1941.

John Ford Smith

The Ethiopian Clowns were formed in 1938 when Syd Pollock took the Miami Giants, changed the team name and put the team on a barnstorming road schedule that took the team all over the country. The Ethiopian Clowns would become the Indianapolis Clowns and play in the Negro American League (1944-1955) before returning to a barnstorming schedule for the remainder of their franchise career.

John Ford Smith was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1919. He is one of the few Negro League players to be born in the western part of the United States. Smith was predominately a pitcher during his professional career in baseball. During his baseball career, Smith played for the following teams:

Indianapolis ABC’s	Negro American League	1939
Chicago American Giants	Negro American League	1939, 1942 and 1944-1945
Indianapolis Crawfords	Negro American League	1940
Ethiopian Clowns	Independent	1941
Kansas City Monarchs	Negro American League	1941 and 1946-1948
New York Black Yankees	Negro National League	1946-1948
Jersey City Giants	International League	1949 and 1950
New York Black Yankees	Independent	1949 and 1950
Drummondville Cubs	Canadian Provincial League	1951
Phoenix	Arizona-Texas League	1952-1953
El Paso	Arizona-Texas League	1954
Escogido	Dominican League	1954
Arizona Cotton Kings	Independent	1955-1957

Smith also played winter league baseball for three years in Latin America with:

Caguas	Puerto Rican Winter League	1947-48
Santurce	Puerto Rican Winter League	1948-49
Havana Leones	Cuban Winter League	1949-50

Smith led the Puerto Rican Winter League in wins with 13 victories in each of his two seasons in the league.

Smith was an outstanding pitcher as well as hitter.  His hitting ability enabled him to play in the outfield on a regular basis.  He batted .348 (1944), .303 (1945) and .288 (1948).