Episode 29: Interview with Bryan Smith: Minor League baseball player and GenXer: Part 1.

Welcome back to GenX Classic Sports, the podcast where we rewind the game clock and relive the golden era of sports through the eyes of Generation X.

In this episode of GenX Classic Sports, we sit down with Bryan Smith, a south Arkansas native whose baseball journey took him from El Dorado to Texarkana Community College to the Houston Astros organization. 

Bryan shares stories from his playing days in 1989 and 1990 under legendary coach Dave Van Horn—now the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks—and reflects on the experience of being drafted by the Astros and spending two seasons in the minors. It’s a nostalgic look back at small-town grit, big-league dreams, and the classic era of late '80s baseball.

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more nostalgia-packed content covering GenX retro sports, and the athletes who defined a generation. 

Production Credits:

Intro and outro music: Mason Enis

Narrator: Haylee Wolf

Copyright @ PineStreetProductions 2025. Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action.

Transcript

Welcome sports fans to Gen X Classic Sports, where we bring the nostalgia of our sportsfilled youth into the present

day. Grab your favorite retro jersey, crack open a cold one, and let's stroll down memory lane together.

All right, everybody. Welcome back to Gen X Classic Sports. I'm your host, Sean Enis, and I've got a special guest

with me today. This is a guy that I've actually known, I guess, known for

probably 35 years now. That's how far we go back to high school baseball. I hate to say that, but that's that's about

what we're talking about. 30 I just had my 35th uh reunion last year. So, yeah,

we go beyond 35 years. Yes. And so, anyway, ladies and gentlemen know me that I grew up in South Arkansas

and so did this gentleman. And as we're finding out, we actually went to the same grade school. This is Brian Smith

from Elder and I grew up in Junction City as everybody knows. And Brian, we were just talking about before I hit

record, you've got a little family in Junction City. And you actually went to grade school down there until what

grade? Man, I went to school in Junction till I was in the fourth grade. Okay. So Brian and I went to the same

grade school. And you're class of 88. Is that right? Yes. Class of 88. And I'm class of 89. And so yeah, we

were uh we didn't I didn't realize it. I I'll I'll get a yearbook out and and look look it up, man. But

yeah, so we over overlapped. And then Brian, even though he's a year older than me, uh, school-wise, we played each

other in high school. And Brian had a really interesting career trajectory

after high school ball. And some of it I witnessed for myself, and I'm going to surprise him with those stories as we

go, maybe. He's probably has no idea what I'm talking about. Um, he played on some summer teams with dudes that I was

teammates with back in the day. And so no, nobody has anything bad to say about

Brian Smith because I checked up on him. So nothing but good stuff. Yeah. So Brian, tell me, man. So So you

were in grade school down there with me and then you moved back moved up to Elorado to the big town. And just so

everybody understands, at the time Elorado was in the largest high school classification in the state. Back then

we only went to 4A, right? That's right. in the 80s and that's what Elder Raa was and in my

hometown was more like 2A. Now there was a huge discrepancy in 4A which is why eventually it became seven 7A. So Brian

how old were you when you started playing any kind of sport not just baseball but what all did you play in

Elora as a kid? I played everything. I played baseball.

I played football, uh, basketball, uh, a lot of people don't know, but I

actually received scholarship offers in all three sports. I I didn't know that. That's awesome.

And ended up um, choosing baseball. But I I played them all, man. I I believe in

whatever season it was, that's that's what I was playing. Would Would you Is it fair to say that

back then that tended to be the way it was? like you probably knew a lot of multisport guys at least before high

school because I thought we were all encouraged to play you know multiple sports back then and I I'll talk you do

you agree I mean that seemed to be the way it was around me at least. Yeah, man. I totally agree with that. You know, I don't think there was too much

um I don't know the term, maybe they call it specialization where where kids were just specializing in one sport.

But, you know, um even though we were 4A in in El Elderorado, it it was still I I

consider it a small school and you had guys that would play football and baseball and and basketball. I mean,

everybody played everything and that's just the way that it was when we were coming up. Yeah, I agree. In the 80s, I mean, we're

definitely Gen Xers and in the 80s, um, some of the coaches even coached multiple sports and so they were more

than happy to have their guys, you know, doing doing multiple things. Um, so if

you played basketball as a kid, did you play at the boys club there in El Dredo? I did. I started out at the boys club

and um ended up um after the boys club, you know, I went to Barton Junior High

there in El Dredo and yeah, there the high school. So, okay.

I played basketball until my sophomore year and then after my

sophomore year, I I just played football and and baseball. Okay. Okay, that's what I was going to

ask you next because I I didn't know which sports you played the older you got in high school. So, you did football

and baseball all the way through or did you drop football at some point? No, I did I did baseball and football

all the way through. Okay. What' you What position did you play in football if you don't mind me asking? Football. I was a running back and

defensive back. I was going to say if you were not a running back or a Dback, somebody did

not do their job at all on the football staff. And I'll tell everybody I'll tell

everybody why I believe that later because of what I've seen with my own two eyes. Um that's interesting because Elder Raa

uh man I go back to uh Carlos Gatson

playing for Elder Raa. Yeah. Yeah. And then the and then the Razerbacks and uh John David Tubberville being the

quarterback. Um and there were there were some good athletes obviously in Elora. That was a pretty good football

program. Coach uh what was it? Beckleheimer. Coach Beck. That's right. So you played for Coach Beck, right?

Okay. So I mean I'm Hey, I'm trying to lock in, man. It's been a while, but I'm trying to lock in. And I was hoping you

were going to tell me you played football because I was going to kind of be mad at Coach Beck if you didn't.

All right. So I remember you playing for Elora. We played each other twice a year

usually. Um non-conference. Y'all were way too big for us to be in the same conference. But having said that, y'all

were one of the smaller enrollments on the 4A side in the state. I would bet

Yeah, that's probably why you said it felt like a small school because I mean, Elorado wasn't as big as some of these Little Rock and Pine Bluff type schools.

So, y'all had a big discrepancy from the low end to the high end of 4A back then.

That's right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. And so, um, matter of fact, y'all were in the conference with Pine

Bluff, weren't you, man? That's back when they had, uh, well, he was a sophomore probably my, I

don't know, my senior year. Basil badge. You remember him? Oh, do I? Yeah.

Tracy Caldwell. Tracy Caldwell was that age. Played against him, too. Um,

literally track stars. I mean, first and foremost, those guys were track stars. And then they kind of transitioned that

into doing stuff on baseball and football fields, but Shibaz was uh man,

it's hard to argue against him being one of the top handful of uh running backs that ever played in this state for high

school. And that dude could put pick him up and put him down, couldn't he? Yeah. Some of them even rank him as

probably one of the top two coming out of the state ever. There's an argument to be made. I mean,

that dude was I mean, he was something else for sure. So, y'all y'all had some tough opponents. I'm all right. That's

what I'm saying. There's no doubt about it. And um I've been telling the people that

uh I told we were going to talk that I can remember a lot of the players on y'all's team, but um y'all had a good a

good selection of hitters for sure. But you you were telling me through text there's a picture you sent me of the two

of us and I'll share that on our YouTube version of this um cuz it's it's been a while since I've seen it. But you played

shortstop. What when did you start playing shortstop? And and I know you made a transition there at some point.

Man, I' I've basically as as long as I can remember, I've I've always played

primarily shorts stop and in and third base. And I think of course everybody

probably pitched a little bit. So, um I I was infielder and a pitcher and um

yeah, through high school, you know, up until my my senior year, I was primarily on

the infield with shortstop. Mhm. And um I made the switch probably the

middle way through my senior year. Okay. I started playing the outfield. See, we

probably hadn't even we probably played y'all early in the year for non-conference and then moved on from

each other and then that's when you made because I remember you as a shortstop. Now, it makes complete sense that you

played or moved to center field. I I totally agree with that too. But I think what's interesting is I don't care if

it's El Dorado or JC what size school you are you have a lot of the best a lot of times in my experience you may

disagree and I and I I still watch high school sports. I mean, I still go to baseball games around here and stuff. A

lot of times your absolute best athlete ends up at short. You know, lot Yeah. A lot of small

schools, they put that dude that can cover some ground and throw it over there. And you just see that a lot. Yeah.

Um, and I'm going to ask you, there's another question about that later as pertains to uh minor league ball. But

um, so you played shortstop. That's what I was used to seeing you play. Um, I see you had the goggles on in the picture.

And what? So, are you blind as a bat like I am? Is that that what the brother? I'm probably worse than you. I'

I've actually had a um cornea transplant and and and that's

kind of what derailed my my my baseball career. I I'm blind in my left eye.

Man, I tell you what, my left eye was my problem, too. But not that bad. You have some serious stuff going on. The reason

I me the only reason I mentioned that was not to pick on you because I played in the same I played in the same goggles

the very last two years I played I had goggles because

um I man something about contacts and baseball just did not mix. The dirt

would get in them and everything and of course with goggles I would sweat so badly it was hard to keep them from

fogging up. I don't know about you but that was my experience. That was that's true. That that was it.

Yeah. And so what I would do is wear the goggles batting and I'd wear the goggles out in the outfield because there's no

dirt out there of course. But as soon as I got on base, I took the goggles off because I wanted to be able to, you

know, your peripheral vision's limited in them too, which is right. Hey, you and I didn't have this

technology now where they take a pair of Nikes and put a prescription lens in them and you got these cool looking

sports goggles. We're out there wearing this nasty piece of plastic across our face back in the day. Rex Specs. Oh,

they used to call me Kareem.

I know. I hated wearing them, too. But I didn't have any choice. I couldn't see good enough. I couldn't either, man. I couldn't

either. I tried them. I tried them in football and I ended up just I since my vision was bad in one eye, like you said, I I

had one really bad eye compared to the other one. And in football, I could just get away with it. And if I threw an interception, I just blame it on the not

wearing my goggles, you know, try to get away with it that way. in football it wasn't so bad because

right at the time there was a guy by the name of Eric Dickerson in the NFL

that had the same gargle. So I I said, "Well, I guess if he can wear him, I can wear him, too." So

that's right, but not so much in baseball. Uh what was the Oh, man. The guy from the Cincinnati Reds, the white

guy. Uh Chris Chris something. Uh Sabbo sab

Yeah, he had goggles, man. He had Yeah, he was the only one I can think of.

That's right. I remember Chris. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. So, there was one

there was at least one major leager, but I understand the Kareem comment because that's I had to hear that, too. So,

anyway, I I thought that was funny and thanks for sharing that picture because I haven't seen it in a while. I I'll put it on the YouTube version. Okay. So,

you're you're a senior and you switched to center field, but

you told me through there was a reason you switched to By the way, who was your coach? Was it coach Daryl Smith or

Darren Smith? I can't remember his first name. Daryl Smith was our coach. Yeah. Well,

and probably our senior year, uh, Coach Smith, um, he had left and Jim Emerson was our

coach our senior year. And, you know, you're talking about coaches doing other things. He was a

offensive line coach in football and then he switched after football

season. He went to baseball. Yeah, he had a tough mentality for baseball then. That's right.

I do remember him actually. Yeah, I remember Coach Smith and him now that you mentioned that. I I thought he came along later. I knew he was in there, but

I thought it was after you were gone. So, that was our year. Yeah. Okay. So, tell tell everybody about why

you met you switched positions though. Somebody caused that. So, it was probably

it was doing after my junior year. Um, I'd been receiving a lot of letters from

from different clubs like the Texas Rangers, uh, Cincinnati Reds and, uh, Kansas City

Royals. And Kansas City Royals scout actually came down. It was after my junior year. And um we went through the

workout and and and after the workout um he said, "Smith, I got some good news

and bad news." And he said, "What do you want first?" I said, "Well, well, tell me the good

news." And uh he said, "You ever thought about playing professional baseball?" And I said, "Man, yeah, that's all I

think about, you know." And he said, "Well, man, I definitely believe you got a a shot at playing if if you uh do a

few things differently." I said, "But what's the bad news?" He said, "You'll never make it at shortstop."

And man, I went from the highest of high to the lowest of lows, you know. And not

knowing at the time that he wasn't judging me on the guys that I had seen in Arkansas,

right? He was judging me on guys that he had scouted around the country. Yeah. and he had that perspective and

seen it with his own eyes. Yeah. And I didn't know that back then. And I didn't find that out until many

years later as I was I was watching a a special um actually on ESPN

and I start you know hindsight's 2020 and I started putting the time frame together and this scout had just left

Auburn University and had just signed a guy by the name of

Vincent Jackson. Yeah. Left that guy and came down to work me

out. Yeah. That's for those don't know Vincent Jackson. I I have two episodes on Vincent Bo

Jackson. We all call him Bo. And I've had the pleasure of um visiting with Bo about

the scout. His name is Ken Gonzalez. Wow. Great. Great. Bo and I was talking

about it and uh many years later as I mentioned uh I looked Ken's number up

and I wanted to call him to say thank you. He was the first guy to ever tell me that I couldn't make it at shortstop.

Right. And I called him and spoke with his wife and he had just passed. Oh man. And I didn't get to talk to him. But

that's that's how I made the transition from shortstop to to center field. He he

told me make the switch. And your coach luckily in high school allowed that to

happen. He did, but we didn't do it initially at the beginning of the season, but as the season

um progress, we would the scouts were calling. They were going, "We need to see Brian in the outfield." And he would

move me to the outfield when we knew scouts were coming down. So that's that's how I moved to the outfield.

Well, now let me sneak in my story about you because you you you'll find this

interesting perhaps. So somewhere in all of that before you were I don't I don't really remember if it was after your

senior year or what. Um the White Socks had a try out in Texirana.

Okay. And Mc Knight who you were a summer teammate with either the summer before or the summer after I really

don't remember. Um he told me he said hey we're going to we're going to go to Texas Canada and do

this White Socks try out. And I said why? And he said well I mean you know it's good experience and this and that.

And I said, "Okay." And man, I want to say it was right after the baseball season ended, but I have no idea. I don't I don't remember that at all. I

just remember riding to Texir Canana with him and I said, "Well, if you're driving, I'm riding. That's fine."

So, we get over there and there's a lot of smackover guys and I saw you

and some other guys that I knew from the area. So, cuz back then before consolidation there were four or five

high schools around there. So, there was a good representation from our county. I don't know how many elder guys were

there, but I know you were. And so, keep in mind that nobody told us what scouts

do at a major league triyout. We had no idea. No idea whatsoever. We didn't even

tell our high school coach we were going. And therefore, we didn't have him say, "Well, here's what they do." We had

no idea. So, we get over there and the first thing they said was, "All right, you're going to run the 60 yard dash."

And I said, "60? because man I'm a I'm a football guy really at heart I was

football and I thought well man I'm okay in the 40 I'm okay I was not in shape for 60 and that's

really what it was that last 20 was rough so I ended up running it I ran it three times against the same guy who

ended up in just not playing ball like I didn't but at college we saw each other

and he was like are you the guy and I'm like are you the guy so we had a big laugh about it because we raced each

other three times we we got the came the same time every time now. And then I saw

you run and Mc Knight and I were like, "Whoa, what are they doing with Brian?" So then you ended up in the infield and

you were throwing balls across the infield and I guess they were clocking your arm cuz they had kind of sent us.

We had run our 40 or 60s. We had thrown from the outfield. You were still hanging around and and really it was

only about three or four of y'all. I'm just telling you what I remember. You tell me when this is over. You tell me what I screwed up.

You were throwing across the infield and they were clearly clocking your arm across the infield. And I think if I'm

not mistaken, like two or three guys took a few cuts in the cage. Not many, but you were one of those from what I

remember. A few cuts in the cage, which apparently wasn't that was like a cut

they made at the tri. I mean, there were probably 250 dudes there, right? Right. from all over Arkansas and

East Texas, maybe North Louisiana. This was Texas, Canada, so there's a lot going maybe Oklahoma guys. About three

guys got to swing the bat. And so Magnight and I to entertain ourselves because we had been dismissed already.

We were just sacking up our stuff and sitting in the bleachers watching and we were like, "Man, the White Socks are all

over Smith or Brian Smith, man. What is it?" But we did not know at the moment what you had run in the 60. And I we

sure didn't know what you were throwing. I mean, we played against you for like three years. We didn't need to be told you were a good athlete, but we didn't

know the particulars. So, I'm get I'm getting to the punchline. So, they keep you maybe two or three guys and then it

looked like it was just kind of down to them talking about you and this this short young coach walks up to you and

and I said, "Who is that?" And somebody said, "Well, that's Texirana Community Colleg's coach." Because

that's who was hosting the try out. That was in their area. They were the host, I guess.

So, if if you remember what I'm talking about, tell the people who that little that short young coach was that walked

over and talked to you in front of the scouts or whatever at the end of the day because I sat there and watched it

happen and this is a very good memory of mine. So, who was that guy? It it was one of two guys.

Yeah. Well, one of them has a big name that everybody would recognize it right now. Dude, do do they recognize Van

Horn? If they like baseball and they're a Razerback fan, they do. Dave Van Horn

was over there. He was the guy talking to you. He was a young Texir Canana coach at the time. Am I right about all

of that? He was there, right? He was talking to you. Let me tell you how that happened. So, okay. I I'm dying to hear this, man,

because I was there. I may have butchered it, but I was there. I I I I originally committed to Arkansas

out of high school for baseball and which would have been coach debri deb.

That's right. That's right. Coach Brian. I I I committed to to Arkansas. What a

lot of people don't don't remember or know that during that time, Coach Van

Horn was a grand assistant at the U of A. Yep. He was. And I remember him being at

our state tournament. Again, hindsight 2020. I remember him being at our state

tournament. And um I committed to Arkansas

and man, the one thing that that I I've always said is I really appreciate uh

Coach De Brine and coach Doug Clark. They were always upfront with me and um

you know it was I I spoke primarily with coach Clark and he said look Brian we we we still I actually tore my hamstring

oh senior year and um he was like we still want you up here but I'm I'm going to be

honest with you. We've got a guy by the name of Don Thomas. I think Dunn was all

conference and he said, "Look, he's coming back." And he said, "Um, we're

either going to red shirt you or if we don't red shirt you, you're not going to play a whole lot." And man, I thought

about that and and I was like, man, I really don't want to sit on the bench. And you know, it was it actually came

down between Arkansas and Oklahoma State uh during that time. when Oklahoma State had some guy I remember Robin Ventur and

Petilia all those guys were were there when I coming out of high school and it came

down to them and I I chose Arkansas. Well, once he said that he was going to red shirt me or I wasn't gonna play

and then they I found out and I didn't know this at the time. If you go D1, you have to stay three years.

Yeah. back and I was like, man, I I yeah, I I really can't afford to stay

three years because at that time my girlfriend was pregnant. I had a baby coming. I knew I had the opportunity to

play professional baseball. And I was disappointed that I get didn't get

drafted out of high school. Maybe it was because I tore my hamstring. But long story short, they said, "I tell you

what, if you're not going to come here, will you go to Tex Canada?" and I knew nothing about texture Canada. And so

they set that up. And so that's how I probably ended up over at that White Socks camp that day because I was there

working out and and and and trying to meet everybody. So that's how I ended up over there that day. They sent me over

there. Well, for whatever reason, there was probably Man, I hate to throw names out

when I'm not sure, but I'm I'm almost positive there were a couple of your teammates there as well. Maybe four or five of them. seemed like there was a

lot of people I knew there meaning half a dozen or so smack over Elder

and somebody said and I don't know if this is true but I watched you finally I finally watched you run and I told Mac I

said dude Brian Smith can fly I mean I knew you were fast but I said Brian

Smith can fly and somebody said in the 60 that day you ran a 6.5 is that Right.

I ran sound right. So 64. Okay. Well, sub 65, which is

smoking fast. And for those listening who wonder, don't wonder anymore. That's really fast. That's all you need to

know. I don't know. Did they Did they clock your arm velocity and tell you what it

was that day or did you just have They did not. They if if they clocked it, they didn't tell me what it was.

Okay. I mean, I saw you throwing. So I in my mind you were throwing across the infield, but you could have been hitting

the cut off man from the outfield. I have no idea, but I know that word got back that it was a 65 and and you're

saying sub65, which is I can believe it because I saw it with my own two eyes. So I was like, man. So you know, we're

up there in the stands going, well, Brian Smith just got a job today. Like

that's that's kind of coaches talk. See, we didn't know all this other was going on with Arkansas or whatever. We're just

basing this off what we're seeing with our own two eyes. And I'm like, I know when a guy is getting attention from a

coach by the body language they're showing, this Dave Van Horn, I didn't

know that's who it was at the time, but I did later on. I said, "This coach is talking to Brian Smith about coming to

college here. You guys can believe what you want." Because, you know, it's a it's a conflict of interest with the pros and the college both there. you

know, they they both want you basically if you're a talent like that. And so we just thought it was hilarious

because we're like we just watched Brian Smith either get drafted or at the worst he's about to be playing

at Texas or Canada next year at at the bare minimum. So that was what Mc Knight

and I saw. And so it sounds like they kind those stories kind of match up. So I'm not crazy. Right.

Right. That's right. That's right. and and and I was just it took a while, but

I really figured out who Van Horn was when he was gotten when he got Nebraska

into the College World Series before he came to Arkansas. I did the old, you know, Wikipedia thing or whatever and

I'm like, "Oh my goodness, that has to be who?" And I looked, yep, saw that Tex

County Community College on there and I'm like, "Yep, totally makes sense now." But I did not know that's why you

kind of had a connection with him is because of of all that happened at Arkansas. That is really fascinating. So

going back to something you said earlier because timelinewise, we're getting kind of to the end of your high school career. You actually had offers for

football, basketball, baseball that you could have sorted through, right? Right. For college. For college.

That's correct. All right. And so you do what you you but you wanted you want is it safe to

say you wanted baseball beyond the other two. That's right. Because realistically

I I knew that I really didn't have a chance to go any further than college in basketball

and football. I was looking I was already coming off a torn hamstring

right my my senior year. So I'm thinking all right you know injury-wise it it's going to be a whole lot better if I choose

baseball. So that's what I did. Well, you know, um, we we were lucky

where I played. We had a mentor named Vince Holyfield that worked with the outfielders every offseason and

physically you always reminded me of him. Y'all y'all had similar builds and um, speed and so forth. You you reminded

me a lot of Vince and that's pretty high praise because dude was definitely my he

was my hero as a kid and then I got to work with him when he coached uh, he was kind of a volunteer coach until spring

training every year. He'd come hit with us and work out with us and coach outfield. And I love that guy and and

you reminded me a lot of him physically. Y'all y'all could have passed for brothers probably. Know Vince well. We worked out together.

Okay. All right. He did. All right. Well, you know, he was a cool dude and y'all did remind me of each

other. Um, so, so when Van Horn had that discussion with you or whatever that day, did that

lock in, um, Texir Can for you instantly or did you still have other things to to

mull over or were you or were you even wondering if you were going to get drafted out of high school? Was that after the draft? Cuz cuz I'm curious how

that all went went down with the or I I really I I thought that I was

either going to be drafted by the Cincinnati Reds, um

the Chicago White Socks, or the Kansas City Royals. And the reason I say those three is because those guys started

sending me I was getting letters all the time from them starting my junior year in high school. And those are the guys

that were coming down during the games and they would all they would always tell me when they're coming down. They would tell me what they wanted to see or

or try to see. And so I thought it would be one of those three. Um and when I

didn't get drafted out of high school, even though I I knew my hamstring was torn, it it was disappointing.

Well, you know what's interesting is I've known people my age that have kids that have get that have gotten drafted

or whatever over the years. And one of the things I find most interesting is it seems like the teams that show you the

most interest leading up to the Major League Baseball draft end up not being the team that drafts you almost every

time. You're absolutely right. I've had people tell me, "Man, the Royals were all over me. I mean, I

talked to that scout every day." Of course, now it's text and emails and this and that and social media and then

and then I got drafted by the Brewers. What happened? you know, and and so it that sounds like a pretty normal

experience to me based on the people I've talked to. Well, that's that's what it was, man. The um the Astros actually came out of

nowhere and and and that was after my freshman year at Texas Cana, you know, I got an invite from them to come to a

pre-draft workout and they had about 20 or 30 of us down at the Astrodome at the

time and that's where they came into play. But before that, I thought it was one of the other three teams for sure.

Yeah. So, let me ask you about going to Texer, Canada then out of Elora High School. So, you get over there for Van

Horn. Um, I'm always curious from the playing perspective, the technical aspects of

this. So, what kind of adjustments did you had have to make to the pitching and to the coaching and the conditioning and

all those type? I mean, just walk us normal folks through what kind of mental

and emotional and whatever adjustments cuz I mean, you were what is that two and a half hours from Elora, something

like that? Two hours, whatever. Hour and so you're you're away from home, right? And you're playing for a what turns out

to be a pretty demanding coach, I'm sure. Young young coach, all fired up about everything and and you're

adjusting to all aspects of of playing JO ball now. So, what kind of

adjustments did you or or was it e I mean, was the pitching better in high than high school, but you adjusted okay

or, you know, walk us through some of that. I'm really curious about that. I think the pitching was was okay. You

know, you of course and and similaritywise, you played with Greg Glover.

Yes. And and and so Greg was probably throwing

what? 90s, low 90s. Yeah. We would see that consistently in in in in Jo. You know, that's something

that I had to get used to seeing every day. You know, you in high school, you

every so often, but even in JO, you're you're probably playing against somebody that who was

one of the better players on their high school teams. So, had to make that adjustment. And and then just um playing

baseball year round. You know, I'm used to playing football and basketball. Now I'm focusing on baseball and um

right say the least coach Van Horn was demanding you know especially with the offseason

fall ball and and that's something that I had to make an adjustment to um but believe me when I tell you it was all

worth it. Yeah. So y'all probably played what 30 games in the fall easily something like

that and then we probably played more man we probably played closer to 45 or 50 and

Okay. um traveling to all over the the state and you know even

playing the UOVA you know fall ball we were we we had a pretty tough schedule. Um

I found that interesting that uh when JJ Hill played over there which I guess was the following year maybe after you left

and got drafted. Um JJ played over there and he came to SAU for fall ball. And I didn't realize at the time but I do now

that for fall ball you play up and down all kinds of different levels. You just kind of you play whoever's the bus ride

away more or less, right? Which would explain y'all going up to Fatville and all that kind of stuff. So if you were if you were at SAU, so JJ

came over when I was a sophomore. So we played together one year. Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, I saw you then

because I guess because um uh y'all played fall ball at at SAU and

uh a couple of JJ's teammates and I I was in college there so it was easy for me but another guy or two went with me

and we went over there and watched y'all play. Um so you would have played was I think

Eric was over there, right? Was Eric there when you were there? Eric Stone.

Uh yeah, he must have been a I think we were the Was he in your class or 89?

He was I'm 89. He was in my class. Yeah. Yeah, he would have been over there. Yeah, he would have been over there. Yeah. So, um so as you said earlier,

this is this is kind of what I thought you were going to say. So, when you play high school ball at any level, you're

going to run into a guy every so many games throwing good heat. Now, you're at

Texas and their whole their whole lineup's throwing much better heat. So, you're getting every high every number

one guy on his staff from high school that's not D1 or didn't get drafted or whatever, that's who you're facing. So,

the pitching a little more little more uh miles per hour than you than you normally get consistently. What about

the breaking? Did you see Did you see guys with unbelievable breaking stuff or was it just kind of like

not really? Not really. It was it it was more when the guys we were seeing a majority of

them could throw hard. Yeah. But maybe the controlwise it wasn't just there.

Yeah. But they could bring it though and if they brought it they were bringing it. Yeah. And I would imagine if they could

they wouldn't have been playing Jo ball. They'd already be gone or you know they were probably perfecting their their

craft. Is that that's probably safe. You're right in saying that. That's right. That's right. Now when you were

there, so you were fast and were you the fastest guy at Tex Arcana when you when

you were there? Would you think I was? And so you were center field from day one.

I was center field from day one. I remember um I don't know if it's because

coach thought that I wasn't always giving it my all, but during

conditioning drills, we ran what's called poles and it's from foul line to foul line.

Yep. And whichever group that I was in, he would make me count to five before I

could leave after they had left. And I had to beat them. And if I didn't, that

was extra for me. So that's crazy. I laugh about that now, but but yeah, I

I was center field from day one for sure. Yeah. You know what? uh you're run, you know,

and I'm like I said, I'm a sports nerd. I pay attention to all this stuff. I used to go to every, you know, college

and pro game that I could after high school and college just to see all this. But you were what I would call a glider.

You didn't look like you were putting forth a ton of effort. And that's what I noticed at Tex Canada that day that it

was probably deceptive how fast you were actually running. And something makes me wonder if Van Horn thought you were

holding out and was punishing you for something you weren't doing. You know, cuz you did have an Dude, you had an

easy you had an easy stride though. You know, it's funny you say that because I remember him asking me once, he was

like, "Do you ever put forth a full effort?" And I'm like, "Man, you don't understand. I'm all out. That's that's

all I got." But you know, some people like the old quarterback at Arkansas, Matt Jones,

they you have no idea that dude's running that fast until you hear the time with this the way their stride

looks or whatever. And to me, you were an easy strider. So it didn't look like you were struggling at all. And so I'm

sure that that may have drove a guy like Van Horn crazy. He might have thought out on him.

Yeah. So did was tell me about uh what kind of like were y'all playing a lot of small

ball then? Was he was he bunting guys over and having you steal a lot of bases and that kind of thing or

You know what? Um we played a little small ball, but we we

actually had a pretty good hitting team, so he would he would let us swing away quite a bit. Um

yeah, as far as as far as a running team, he he always gave me the green light.

Yeah. Um whenever I wanted to run and if for some reason he didn't want me to run, he

would he would let me know. But I pretty much had the green light to take off whenever I wanted.

Did um Now, let me ask you this. So, in high school, did you hit a lot of home run? I mean, you showed me some stats on

Legion ball and and I'll be honest, I was surprised you hit that many home runs in Legion Ball. Did you hit a lot

of home runs in high school? I didn't. I don't think I ever had over

over four over four or five in high school. So you had a Legion se season and I mean y'all played like 50 games or

something and you had nine home runs which was like second I think on the team. So how about Texer Canada did I

always ask fast guys this question. Okay, cuz this was something that Bowlolan and I had a discussion about

when I played for him. And that is he his thing was if you're my fast guy or guys,

you're going to hit that ball level and you're going to hit it down and you're going to hit those line drives and

you're going to run. So, he kind of talked that power swing out of you. I'm

not saying he preached be a slap hitter, but I mean some people would say that, but he was way more concerned about it.

Hit that level, hit that level shot, get it in the get it in the gap, get it get it up the middle and run and then there

were other guys on the team that could hit the long ball. So, so did you just by playing at Texas Canada, did you just

happen to hit some home runs and that wasn't part of the plan or or did Van Horn let you let you do some of that or

how did he see you as part of the offense? In in high school in Legion, I was a

leadoff hitter. Yeah. Well, you should have been. I've always been the leadoff hitter

because you're the fastest thing on the field. Yeah. And and for for whatever reason,

um, Van Horn moves me to the five slot. Wow. Really?

And and, um, I end up my my sophomore year, I ended up hitting close to 350. I

think I had nine or 10 home runs. And for the longest, I was leading the nation in RBI's. I think I ended up with

close to 70 RBI's. That's awesome. Um,

but I don't think I was I was your your prototype uh of power hitter at all. Um,

because I I I know that the scouts never saw me that way. That's really interesting though that

you went from that he put you in the five hole uh with your speed and all. That's really

Well, hey, whatever. I mean, that's that's really interesting. And then you you still hit that many home runs. I

mean, did you was he aggressive when you got So, you you say you had the green light,

but and he was fine with that because I'm sure you did. You were very careful about what you did. You're not going to do dumb things on the bases, I'm sure.

No, he he was aggressive, man. He was aggressive. He he wanted us to be aggressive. Um I I learned a lot from

him and and and when I say that especially in baseball and as you know

sometimes it's the little things um that you have to pick up on and and I

remember a particular game um they change pitchers right before I was

getting ready to to step into the batters box and before I got in he

called me down. he was coaching third base and he said look he said I've been watching this guy warm up and um he said

I haven't seen him throw any off speed pitches a slider curveball anything all he's been throwing is fast balls he said

so the first pitch if it's there I want you swinging sure enough the guy grooved and I hit it

over the wall and it's the little things like that that I never thought about that he was teaching us that you have to

watch for those little things and that's the type of guy that He is and he's always been that way. So, he was

aggressive. I think baseball is a great sport for dudes that are into attention to detail

for sure. Whether whether you're coaching or playing, you know, even even reading a pitcher, knowing when to

steal, just the little subtle movements where you're, you know, you finally found it. You're guaranteed he's

throwing it at the plate and you can steal. All those little victories like that, I think, add up over a a game and

a season and a career. So, it's really interesting that he he told you that because that sounds like the kind of guy

he would be, you know, to me at least. I tell you a quick story. So, we were

this is before my sophomore year. Um, myself and another guy, we had made a

college all-star game and he was taking us to this college all-star game. It was in Blend, Texas, I believe. And we were

having a conversation doing the car ride down and he was kind of asking us, you know, what do you guys want to do with

your life? You know, are you are you going to go to Arkansas after you leave

here? Are you going to sign? What are you going to do? And you know, I'm telling them, coach, you know, that all depends on where I'm drafted, what they

offer. You know, he was just asking us about life. Yeah. And I said, well, man, what what what do

you want to do? What are you going to do? And he said, "Smith, I tell you, one day I'm going to be the coach at the

University of Arkansas." And man, this is in 1990. Wow.

And so when I see him now, you know, I I remind him. I said, "Man, you had a vision back then. You knew what you

wanted." And he did. And he's always detailed like that. So yeah, he sounds like that kind of guy

for sure. And that's what I think, you know, great coaches probably do that, especially in baseball to me. Bolan,

Bolan was a lot like that. Oh, Bowlolan, there's no doubt, and his son will tell you that he got offers to coach college

and he just wasn't interested. Not saying University of Texas, but I know like Henderson and OBU and UCA, those

type schools bugged him a lot about coaching for and he just I don't know why, but he just wasn't ba basically he

wasn't interested. But he had a but my point is he had a mind like that. He would watch the guy warming up. You

know, when you're in high school and a new pitcher comes in, they tell you to watch what he's doing. you're over there pulling your socks up and

that's right. You're not paying attention to that dude. You're just not. And you know, he's over there watching everything

going on. And so that's the kind of mind that you just have to have to coach at

that level. I'm convinced. You know, and if a little bit of it rubs off on a few players, team's better for it, right?

Uhhuh. You're right about that, man. For All right, everybody. Hey, that's a good logical place right there to uh stop

this episode and we'll pick back up in a couple of weeks and we'll hear more from Brian Smith about his uh his experiences

in professional baseball. And we hope you tune back in in a couple weeks and listen. And if you like what we do here,

please hit like, hit subscribe, give us a thumbs up, whatever options you have on whatever uh streaming service you

use. And as always, we appreciate you listening and thank you very much. Thank you for joining us on Gen X Classic

Sports, where nostalgia meets the thrill of the game. Tune in next time for more insightful discussions and memorable

moments brought to you by Pine Street Productions. Until then, stay passionate about sports and keep the memories

alive.