Ira Smith (baseball)

In the 1990 MLB draft the Los Angeles Dodgers selected Smith in the 37th round.^[2] In 14 years playing Minor league and Independent league baseball, Smith had a career .292 batting average.^[3] Despite several seasons in Triple-A, Smith did not appear in any games for a Major League Baseball team. In 1997, it was reported that the Detroit Tigers were grooming Smith to eventually become a coach or manager due to his relationship with Randy Smith, former General Manager of the San Diego Padres and then GM of the Tigers.^[4]

In 2004, Smith was elected to the UMES Athletics Hall of Fame^[5] and in 2005 he was named to the Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame.^[6] In 2010, Smith was elected to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.^[7] The NCAA announced in 2011 that Smith would be added to the ballot for the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.^[8][9]

Smith served as a bench coach for the Lincoln Saltdogs in 2004 and as the teams hitting coach in 2005.^[10] In 2006, Smith left the Saltdogs and took a position as the hitting coach of the Joliet Jackhammers.^[11]