 | | Baylor baseball head coach Steve Smith |
Chat Wrap With Coach Steve Smith Head coach Steve Smith, now in his ninth season as head coach at Baylor, has led the Bears to a program-record five straight NCAA appearances. Earlier this season, he became the second coach in school history to reach 300 career wins. On top of that, Smith's career winning percentage is easily the best of any coach with at least five seasons in Baylor history. The 2000 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Smith came to Baylor from Mississippi State, where he was an assistant under Ron Polk for five seasons. Prior to that, he served as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M. A former standout pitcher at Baylor in 1982-1983, Smith led the Southwest Conference with a 1.72 ERA as a junior, bettering league foes and future major leaguers Norm Charlton, Roger Clemens, Doug Drabek and Calvin Schiraldi. An accomplished pitching coach, Smith has tutored six pitchers in the last 11 years who were selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. He has also had at least one pitcher named to the all-conference first team in each of the last 11 years. This season's 2002 National League Rookie of the Year, Jason Jennings, learned his trade under Smith's tutelage; Jennings was the consensus National Player of the Year in 1999 before becoming the 16th overall pick by the Colorado Rockies. |
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| Moderator: Please hang with us; Coach Smith is running just a few minutes late. |
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| Brad(Arlington): Coach Smith, Excluding this weekends series loss to LBSU, the team has played great. What has been the biggest contributer to the early season sucess for the team and why? See ya in Omaha! |
 |  | Head Coach Steve Smith: We got off to a very good start offensively and played really good defense. I think our pitching has steadily improved. We are playing good enough teams that if we don't play well defensively, we probably won't win. |
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| Dave (NJ): Coach, in you honest opinion do you think the 11 game win streak was a fluke (wth some luck) or do you think that the Bears can have a few sustained win streaks (6 or 7 or more) this year to propel us to the top of the conference? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: When you're playing the caliber of teams that we're playing, there is certainly always an element of luck that comes into play in order to win as many games as we've won to this point. However, I don't think it was a fluke by any stretch. |
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| Dave (NJ): Coach, Being 1500 miles away in NJ doesn't allow me to keep up as much as I would like with the Bears, but I am definitely very happy with the start you have had. But I haven't heard what happened to Theo? Is he injured? What's the scoop? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: Theo has been dealing with some shoulder soreness for the last three weeks. He is having an MRI today and we will know more after we get the results of that. |
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| BT - Lubbock: At what time in a season does a baseball team usually "gel"? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: Any time. Obviously, all coaches would like to have the ability to have their teams playing well down the stretch. But, baseball is anything but an exact science. We simply try to take it one game at a time and try to continue to improve our team throughout the year. |
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| makayla smith: how did michael griffin amaze you coming in from a small town knocking the 3rd baseman of his spot and hitting homeruns last year? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: I thought Michael had a great year offensively for a freshman, but he had played some very good competition growing up in the Dallas area. |
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| Steven (Dallas): Coach Smith, what do you think the problem is at a&m the past few years? theyve had numerous pro prospects but havent made a regional since going to the cws in 99...whats up? and good luck this year |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: I don't know that not making a regional necessarily means that they have had a "problem". I think it simply points out just how difficult it is to make the NCAA Tournament every year. There is so much more competition in our sport now than there ever has been. Having said that, I'm sure they would have liked to have been better offensively over the last couple of years. It looks like they have made a move in that direction by bringing in the number of juco hitters that they have brought in this year. |
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| Jake Baskin, Austin: Hey Coach...just wanted to give a belated congrats on your 300th win. See you at the Disch later this year hopefully... |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: Thanks Jake. You don't have to wait til we come to Austin to see us play... Bring her down here, assuming of course there is a "her." |
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| Jake Baskin, Austin: Also, I'm curious, of all the players you've been around as a player and coach in the amateur ranks, other than yourself of course, who was the best overall competitor as a pitcher and the best as a hitter? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: I don't like questions like this, because we have had so many outstanding players -- it's hard to single out any one in particular. But you asked... Jason Jennings on the mound. A number of people come to mind at the plate: Marty Crawford, Jon Topolski, and Jennings. |
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| Bear64: My wife and I attended both the USC and LBState series. She wants to know how you got the grass green this early and if you could do the same for the grass in our yard? Good luck against Tech. |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: We overseed with rye. We got a great stand this year. If you do it at your house, it will be green, but you'll also get to mow it. |
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| Mark Roberts (Waco): You have been able to win consistently in the Big 12 when coaches of other major sports at Baylor have not. Why is your program so successful? What makes you a successful coach? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: I really can't speak to the issues confronted by other sports here at Baylor. Everyone seems to have their own unique set of issues to overcome. For our baseball program, I think being successful with our first recruiting class in 1995 was really important. Those are some great kids that recruited other great kids. I also think that keeping our coaching staff intact for eight-nine years is obviously very important in continuity. |
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| Thomas Marchbanks: i just want to commend you for bring at least a little pride to the entire Baylor athletic department. you have proven yourself to be a winner. |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: Thank you for your comment. I would also contend that there is much to be proud of here at Baylor. We need to all help each other focus on the positives. |
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| doug rush--head baseball coach--waller: We are playing in the Waco Midway tournament this weekend. We would like to attend the Baylor/tech game on Friday night. Is there a group rate we can get for 20 players and coaches? Thanks, Coach Rush |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: Please contact Coach Mitch Thompson at 254-710-3041. |
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| Mark (Waco): I noticed that Trent Goree is not on the roster this year. Has he left Baylor, and if so, do you know where he is? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: No, Trent is still here at Baylor, but I believe he is making plans to transfer at the conclusion of this spring. I am not sure where. |
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| Allen, TX: Great job with the team. After Friday and beating Alvarez despite a somewhat erratic performance by White you must have felt good about your chances going into Sat. & Sun. Does White's wildness concern you going in to next Weekend? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: I'm not concerned about White; he is really throwing very well. I was disappointed that we did not play better both Saturday and Sunday, particularly on Sunday. The quality of our schedule will not allow us to play poorly and win very many games. That is actually what I like about it. |
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| Josh (Waco): Coach, do you see Abe Woody coming in as a weekend starter if Trey Taylor has any more meltdowns? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: Anything is possible, but I have every confidence that Trey will continue to improve and become more comfortable with each outing. He actually threw quite well on Saturday. He admittedly tried to make a play on a swinging bunt when there was no play to be made. That is an issue of experience. |
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| Ben (Austin): Hey Coach, Appreciate all the hard work you guys are putting in to give BU a quality team. What kind of things concern you about this weekend's matchup with Texas Tech? Sic'em! |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: I haven't really thought much about Tech yet, given that we have to play Houston on Tuesday. But it is obviously important for us to get back to executing well and playing with confidence. Tech always has quality players who are very solid across the board. |
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| the prof (Waco): Coach - I love this team's chemistry as it has young guys playing key roles, but also great play and leadership from the older guys...would you compare it to the '99 team with Topolski, Nelson Jennings, etc. - or another team? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: I certainly hope that this team can accomplish at least what that team did. There is no doubt that the presence of talented seniors is a very important ingredient to a championship team. |
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| the prof (Waco): I'm sure others will ask, but can you give us an update on Theo? I'm hoping he'll be ready for Tech, but if not, do you see LaMotta going again as the 3rd starter or could we see Walker or McCormick taking the Sunday spot? Thanks, Coach! |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: See previous post regarding Theo. I will wait until I can see Tech on Friday and Saturday before making a decision on Sunday. |
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| Mark (Waco): I've never seen a broken bat in college baseball the post wooden bat era. Then on Saturday against Long Beach, I see two bats explode in one game. Is this a common occurence? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: Unfortunately this year, it is happening quite a bit. I'm sure that the major aluminum bat companies are having to take a look at the issue. |
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| Dave (Sugar Land): Explain the umpire's ruling in Sunday's game on Trey's error. I thought it was the base you were headed to plus one. The guy was, at best, standing on second, headed nowhere. |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: The runner was at second base. On a throwing error by a fielder, the runner is entitled to the next base plus one. |
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| Jon (Waco): Coach Smith, thank you for stressing to us the importance of increased, yet positive student support at the games this year. What are some tangible things we can do this year to continue to make our home field advantage feared, yet respectable? |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: Thanks so much for your comment and your question. I thought this weekend was quite possibly the best overall environment that we have had at the Ballpark. I thought that the energy level created in the student section overflowed at important times of the game to the rest of the crowd. What you would like to have is an intimidating environment, not simply 2-3 fans who attempt to intimidate. There was no vulgarity or profanity that I was aware of this past weekend, unlike the weekend vs. USC. While that is not uncommon at many other ballparks around the country, I would hope it would never be commonplace or acceptable here at Baylor. I really appreciate the cooperation of the handful of students who moved up from above the dugout. I give them credit for doing a great job of inspiring the crowd and helping us get that intimidating environment started. |
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| Alex (Houston): I am impressed with your non-conference schedule and was wondering what other teams you hope to bring into Waco in the future? Good luck to the team this year. |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: 2004 includes Loyola Marymount, Arizona, Vanderbilt and UC-Irvine, in addition to the regulars (Rice, Houston, TCU, etc.). |
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| | Head Coach Steve Smith: We also will be going to Long Beach next year. |
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| Justin Spooner (Dallas): Hey coach, just wanted to congratulate the team on a great start. It's been fun keeping up with you guys so far. I'm looking forward to coming down for the first conference series this weekend. Good luck. |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: HJ - good to hear from you. Look forward to seeing you. |
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| rufus Watkins class of 1987: Do you think team can win the Big 12. Also are there pro prospects on the team. How is the grades on the team. |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: Yes, I think this team can win the Big 12. There are several professional prospects on the team, including Steven White, Chris Durbin, Trey Webb, Jared Theodorakos, David Murphy, and several other freshmen and sophomores. |
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| Dave for the last time (Sugar Land): Thanks for making the Ballpark a great environment for the whole family and giving us a great product to watch. |
| | Head Coach Steve Smith: Dave, thanks for your comment, and thanks to the growing number of Baylor baseball fans like yourself who are creating the environment. See you Friday! |
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| | Head Coach Steve Smith: That's it -- gotta go. Thanks again; look forward to seeing you all at Baylor Ballpark Tuesday against Houston and this weekend against Texas Tech. |
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