Steve Smith (pitcher)

Steve Smith
Sport(s) College baseball
Playing career
1980–81 Mississippi College
1982-83 Baylor
Position(s) Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988–89 Texas A&M (Grad. Asst.)
1990–94 Mississippi State (Asst.)
1995–2015 Baylor
Head coaching record
Overall 744–523–1
Tournaments Big 12: 30-33
NCAA: 33-28
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Big 12 Regular Season (2000, 2005, 2012)
Awards
Big 12 Coach of the Year (2000, 2012)
2006 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee

Stephen Carr Smith (born February 2, 1961) is an American baseball coach and was the head coach at Baylor from 1995 to 2015.

Early life

Smith graduated from Gulfport High School in Gulfport, Mississippi, in 1979.[1] While in high school, Smith played quarterback for the football team, leading Gulfport to the 1978 state championship, and pitcher for the baseball team, playing in the 1979 Mississippi High School All-Star Game.

College career

Smith went on to attend Mississippi College where was played quarterback for the football team and pitcher for the baseball team.[1] He transferred to Baylor University after two seasons, where he pitched for the Baylor Bears baseball team under Mickey Sullivan.[1] In 1982, Smith led the Southwest Conference with a 1.72 ERA.[1] He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the fifth round of the 1983 Major League Baseball Draft.[1]

Minor league career

Smith began his professional career in 1983 with the Rookie League Great Falls Giants of the Pioneer League.[2] He spent the 1984 season with the Class A Fresno Giants of the California League and the Class AA Shreveport Captains of the Texas League.[2] Smith spent the entire 1985 season as well as most of the 1986 season with the Fresno Giants before being called up to the Class AAA Phoenix Firebirds of the Pacific Coast League.[2]

Coaching career

Smith's coaching career began as a graduate assistant for the Texas A&M Aggies baseball team in 1988.[1] After two seasons at Texas A&M, Smith became an assistant coach for the Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team in 1990, helping lead the Bulldogs to the 1990 College World Series.[1] Upon Mickey Sullivan's retirement from Baylor University following the 1994 season, Smith became the head coach for the Baylor Bears baseball team.[1]

In 1998, Smith led Baylor back to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship for the first time since 1993.[1] In 2000, Smith led Baylor to a Big 12 Conference championship, Baylor's first conference championship in baseball since 1966.[1] Smith would lead Baylor to subsequent Big 12 championships in 2005 and 2012.[1]

In 2005, Smith led Baylor to the College World Series for the first time since 1978.[1]

With a win over Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi on April 17, 2012, Smith passed Sullivan to become the winningest coach in Baylor history.[3]

Smith has had 67 players selection in the Major League Baseball Draft, including six first round draft choices in Kip Wells, Jason Jennings, Chad Hawkins, David Murphy, Mark McCormack and Aaron Miller.[1] Twelve Baylor players have earned All-American honors under Smith, with Jason Jennings winning the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy and Rotary Smith Award as the best player in college baseball, and Kelly Shoppach winning the Johnny Bench Award as the best catcher in college baseball.[1] 39 players have earned first-team All-Conference honors under Smith, with Jason Jennings, Kelly Shoppach and Josh Ludy earning Big 12 Conference Baseball Player of the Year honors.[1]

In 2012, the Bears won 49 games and hosted a Super Regional, but proceeded to have three losing seasons after that. Smith was fired after the 2015 season.[4]

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Baylor Bears (Southwest Conference) (1995–1996)
1995 Baylor 25–28 7–17 6th
1996 Baylor 32–27 11–13 4th
Baylor (SWC): 57–55 18–30
Baylor Bears (Big 12 Conference) (1997–present)
1997 Baylor 32–23 12–18 5th Big 12 Tournament
1998 Baylor 41–20–1 18–10 2nd NCAA Regional
1999 Baylor 50–15 20–7 2nd NCAA Super Regional
2000 Baylor 45–17 23–7 1st NCAA Regional
2001 Baylor 37–24 17–10 4th NCAA Regional
2002 Baylor 36–26 13–13 5th NCAA Regional
2003 Baylor 45–23 15–12 5th NCAA Super Regional
2004 Baylor 29–31 13–12 6th Big 12 Tournament
2005 Baylor 46–24 19–8 1st College World Series
2006 Baylor 37–26 13–14 5th NCAA Regional
2007 Baylor 35–27 12–15 6th NCAA Regional
2008 Baylor 32–26 11–16 6th Big 12 Tournament
2009 Baylor 30–26 10–16 8th NCAA Regional
2010 Baylor 36–24 12–13 6th NCAA Regional
2011 Baylor 31–28 13–14 5th NCAA Regional
2012 Baylor 49–17 20–4 1st NCAA Super Regional
2013 Baylor 27–28 12–11 5th Big 12 Tournament
2014 Baylor 26–31 8–15 7th Big 12 Tournament
2015 Baylor 22–33 9–15 8th Big 12 Tournament
Baylor (Big 12): 686–469–1 276–224
Total: 743–524–1

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "2012 Baylor Baseball Media Almanac". Baylor University. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "Steve Smith". Baseball Reference. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  3. ↑ Aber, Ryan (26 May 2012). "Big 12 baseball: Baylor's Steve Smith recalls mentor Mickey Sullivan". The Oklahoman. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Steve Smith Fired as Baylor Baseball Coach". WacoTrib.com. May 24, 2015. Archived from the original on June 5, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015.


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