Only a handful of people get to exit baseball under their own terms. Generally, there comes a time when somebody tells you that you are no longer the person for the job. It’s been 49 years with the program and that time has still not come for Garden City lifer Rich Smith, who was just honored for his years of service with the Nassau County Wrestling Association.
“God willing, I still have the passion to keep coming to the ballpark everyday,” said Smith, who has no plans to retire in the future.
After his six years with the JV club, Smith has been coaching the varsity team for the past 43 years. During that time, he has led the Trojans to 14 conference titles, three county titles, one Long Island Championship and one New York State Championship. The latter two both occurred during 2000. He noted that it was one of his biggest thrills in his career.
“That year we were the No. 6 seed and we had to win six or seven games just to get out of Nassau County,” he stated. “Those guys will forever stand in my memory,” he added.
Among those guys was ace pitcher Matt Daley, who went on to get drafted by the Colorado Rockies in 2004 and eventually appeared in 112 games in the big leagues including 13 with the New York Yankees last season.
He is not the only player to go on and play professionally under Coach Smith. Rob Finneran was drafted in the 37th round by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2012 out of Bentley University. He compiled a 3.70 ERA in his first and only year of professional baseball in the New York Penn League in 2012.
Most recently, Jimmy Duff was drafted last season in the 20th round out of Stonehill College by the New York Mets. The 6’6” right-handed pitcher is currently pitching for the Savannah Sand Gnats.
One player that was not drafted, happened to be one of Coach Smith’s favorite player and that was his son—whom he coached in 1987.
“Always a thrill to coach your son,” he stated.
This season, Smith is looking to bring home his fourth county championship—the others came in 2004 and 2006. The pitching staff, led by the combination of Victor Danza, Ryan Smith and Rich Mattone, has compiled an unbelievable ERA of 1.54.
“It’s hard to believe we have seven losses,” he said. “It’s been hard for us to score runs. Whenever someone asks me to explain it, I say ‘it’s baseball.’ Thank God our pitching has been so strong,” he added.
The team currently sits at 11-7, good for third place in the conference. They enter the playoffs as the No. 10 seed.
Smith noted that one of the reasons he has been successful is because of the continuity of the coaching staff. Charlie Menges has been his assistant coach for 20 years and Mike Sweeney has been with the program for 15 years.
“Both coaches played for me. They understand the program. Anytime the players knows that the coaches have been through it before, it sets a good tone,” he added.
Rich Smith has been a staple in the Garden City community for half of a century. If it’s up to him, he’ll stick around for another 50 years.
