Mark Edward Smith (born May 7, 1970) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

, and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. Smith also played for the

Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB), and the

Hanwha Eagles The Hanwha Eagles ( ko, 한화 이글스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Daejeon. They are a member of the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium. The Eagles have won the Korean Series on ...

of the

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and KBO ...

(KBO).

College career

Mark Smith played college baseball at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. In 1990, Smith played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fi ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

(CCBL). He batted .408 and led the Gatemen to the league title. Smith was named league MVP and was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2011.

Professional career

Mark Smith began his professional career with the

Frederick Keys The Frederick Keys are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. The Keys are based in Frederick, Maryland. The franchise is named for "Star-Spangled Banner" writer Francis Scott Key, a native of Frederick County. A new team masco ...

in 1991. His best minor league season was in 1992 with the Class AA

Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They played their home g ...

, where he was selected as an outfielder for the Eastern League End of Season All Star Team, Smith played Major League Baseball between 1994 and 2003 for the

and

. In 1999, he played in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

for the

. In 2005, he played in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

for the

, but was released on the regular season. What may be regarded as the most noteworthy of Smith's accomplishments on the baseball diamond occurred on July 12, 1997. Smith hit a 3-run

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

off of

John Hudek John Raymond Hudek (born August 8, 1966) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played all or part of six seasons in the majors, from until , for five different teams. He appeared in a total of 194 major league games, all in relief Re ...

in the bottom of the 10th inning in a scoreless game to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 3-0 win over the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. The home run also ended the first extra-innings combined

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

in MLB history. Francisco Córdova no-hit the Astros in the first 9 innings, while reliever

Ricardo Rincón Ricardo Rincón Espinoza (born April 13, 1970) is a Mexican former professional baseball relief pitcher. Career Rincón was a left-handed specialist who spent nearly his entire career as a middle reliever and setup pitcher. In his 11-year caree ...

pitched a hitless 10th inning for the Pirates.

Award for heroism

In 2001, Smith received the

Steve Palermo Stephen Michael Palermo (October 9, 1949 – May 14, 2017) was an umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1977 to 1991. His field career ended when he was shot in the back following his decision to intervene and ap ...

Award for heroism from the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.) for his actions in July 2000, when he rescued a man whose car had crashed and was on fire.NY Times article
/ref>

References

External links

Nippon Professional BaseballThe Baseball GaugeVenezuela Winter LeagueCareer statistics and player information
from

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mark 1970 births Living people All-American college baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in South Korea Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Pasadena, California Bowie Baysox players Calgary Cannons players Carolina Mudcats players Florida Marlins players Frederick Keys players Hagerstown Suns players Hanwha Eagles players Indianapolis Indians players KBO League outfielders Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Milwaukee Brewers players Montreal Expos players Nashville Sounds players Ottawa Lynx players Pittsburgh Pirates players Rochester Red Wings players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players USC Trojans baseball players Wareham Gatemen players Yakult Swallows players