When someone says “professional baseball player,” most people tend to think of guys like Derek Jeter, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez; but they may not realize that there are many more professional baseball players working their way up in the ranks. Former Ouachita baseball player Steve Smith is currently playing in the Cleveland Indians minor league system.
“He has the work ethic and mentality to play for a long time,” said Chris Moddelmog, current head baseball coach at Ouachita. “Every player in pro baseball is talented, but the guys that have the great mental makeup are the ones who have a shot to make it, and he definitely has that.”
During his last season at Ouachita, Smith posted a 10-1 record and an ERA of 2.00 while the team finished the season with a 51-16 record. He was also named the Division II College World Series Most Valuable Player and accumulated 143 strikeouts. He is one of two players from Ouachita that have ever been drafted by a major league baseball team.
“Steve was and is a workhorse,” said junior pitcher Payne Spence, a teammate of Steve here at Ouachita. “He works so hard and has a great mentality for the game.”
Smith began his minor league career playing for the Indians rookie team which plays in the Arizona League and was then promoted to the Class A Lake County Captains.
Since playing for the Captains, Smith has again been promoted to the Class A Advanced team, the Kinston Indians.
There are only three teams above the level that Smith is playing at now, which are the Class AA Akron Aeros, Class AAA Columbus Clippers, and the Cleveland Indians.
While playing for the Lake County Captains last season, he posted a 2-3 record, a 2.36 ERA, along with 62 strikeouts in 52 2/3 innings. Smith tied a Captains team record 26 saves.
Since being moved up to the Kinston Indians, Smith played in two games, recording one strikeout, only allowing one hit, and no earned runs in 2/3 innings. Both of those games were played against the Potomac Nationals, a farm team of the Washington Nationals.
Smith said that he is confident in his abilities, and believes he can make it to the major leagues, but he also knows that it will be a hard road.
Although he loves playing baseball, Smith doesn’t want it to be what he is known for.
“I would much rather be remembered as a good Christian man who played baseball rather than a baseball player who was a Christian,” said Smith. “I don’t want baseball to define me. God gave me this opportunity to play and I have to let God work through me. I want people to remember me for my morality and my character. I’m here to be a light where there is a lot of dark.”
