Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The game has always been their common ground, a bond crystallized by a father-son moment years ago.

Too young at the time to have a clear memory of it, the son has heard the story. The father, overcome with excitement, yelled for his wife to grab the video camera.

David Smith calmed down before Deedy Smith could find the camera and press the record button, telling her it was just a "proud dad moment" and not to worry. David rarely shares the story with others, figuring a lot of parents of players in the Southeastern Conference have a similar tale.

Still, he saw something in 3-year-old Brady back then that has lingered in his memory. The story took place in the yard on the side of the Smith home in the Florida Panhandle town of Niceville. David's brother Danny stopped by their house to drop off a gift, one of those pop-up nets for Brady to hit into as he practiced his tee-ball swing.

Already consumed by sports, young Brady Smith rarely bounced around the house or yard without carrying some type of ball. On this particular day, David figured he would see how well Brady could hit a ball. The boy made it look easy. Too easy. To make it more challenging, David took away the tee, crouched down on a knee, and started to soft-toss pitches.

Thump! Followed by more thumps. No stranger to the game, David took note.

"I'll never forget it,'' David said. "Brady was just whacking them."
 
By the time Brady was born in November 1998, nearly a decade had passed since David Smith's most notable memory on a baseball diamond. In May 1989, David's Niceville High team made it all the way to the Class 3A state semifinals.

The Eagles' journey to the state tournament at Boardwalk and Baseball – the long-gone theme park in Polk County that was located off Interstate 4 – drew media interest for multiple reasons. First, Niceville entered its semifinal game against Naples Lely with a 28-0 record and 33-game winning streak, the longest in the state. And playing alongside David in the outfield was Kenny Felder, one of the state's top football and baseball recruits who later signed with Florida State as a dual-sport athlete and was the Milwaukee Brewers' first-round pick in 1992.

Niceville owned a five-run lead in the bottom of the sixth and David had a double off Lely starter Doug Brennan. If the name sounds familiar, Brennan signed with the Gators the following year and pitched at UF from 1990-93. On this day, Brennan went from likely loser to winning pitcher as Lely scored six runs in the inning to escape with a 9-8 victory in a heartbreaking loss for the Eagles.

Following high school, David spent a year playing baseball at what was then known as Okaloosa-Walton Community College, but after getting a summer job after his freshman season, he decided to stay in the workforce and not go back to school.

He reconnected with the game when Brady came along.

"I loved baseball and was good at it, but I didn't have the skills Brady has,'' he said.

In his first season as Florida's starting catcher, Brady Smith has tried to recapture that natural swing that startled his father way back when. With the departure of JJ Schwarz following the Gators' fourth consecutive trip to the College World Series last season, Smith took over as the everyday catcher.

It's a job that he began preparing for prior to his senior season at the TNXL Academy in Altamonte Springs when UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan advised him to move from shortstop to catcher to better suit his skill-set and fit into Florida's future plans following Schwarz's exit.

Smith's defensive struggles early in the season were to be expected, but what caught everyone by surprise was Smith's quiet bat. At one point, he endured a 0-for-21 slump, his average hovered below .200 and he was moved to ninth in the lineup. Smith backed up Schwarz behind the plate as a freshman, spent time at first and third, and batted .264 with two home runs and 15 RBI.

Those numbers were expected to increase with a regular place in the lineup in 2019.

"He was one of our better hitters coming out of the fall and the preseason,'' O'Sullivan said. "The position change probably had a little bit to do with him getting off to a slow start."

The 20-year-old Smith admits as much, the mental part of the game taking its toll as he worked to balance his role behind the plate defensively with being a bigger part of the offense. Over the past two months, the position has started to feel more natural.

As a result, Smith has rediscovered his identity with a bat in his hands, raising his average to .282 entering this weekend's series at Georgia.

"Being the guy behind the plate, I've kind of been overthinking it,'' Smith said following a 3-for-4 performance in Friday's win over Kentucky. "Now that I'm swinging the bat a little bit it's kind of coming together. I'm playing relaxed."

Smith has been at his best over the past seven games, a stretch that started with a 4-for-4 night in a 16-9 win at LSU on April 18. He is 12-for-24 over that span with a pair of home runs and seven RBI. He has turned it around defensively as well, committing just one error over the last 16 games after five in his first 26 appearances.

No one knows what is rattling around in Smith's head better than his dad, who beamed whenever other parents would yell his son's nickname – "Mr. Double" – when he would step to the plate in Little League.

David could tell Brady was pressing early in the season, taking the kind of big swings he taught him to avoid. As Brady developed into one of the top young players in the Panhandle growing up, it was David who often served as his hitting coach, pitcher, trainer and whatever else he needed during late-night trips to the batting cage for extra work.

If there was one facet of the game David wanted to leave a lasting impression on his son, it was his approach at the plate.

"I love home runs as much as everybody else, but I'm Wade Boggs. I preach line drives,'' said David. "Put the ball in play. Good things happen when you put it in play. He's starting to get comfortable with it and starting to understand what Sully and the coaching staff want."

Smith has never shied away from a challenge or coaching.

As a kid, he usually played two years up from his age group because he was so much better than other kids his age. He played basketball and baseball his first two years of high school at Niceville High.

A turning point came at a travel ball tournament prior to his freshman year of high school. That's when the Gators first took notice of Smith, who had developed a relationship with Gators' sophomore pitcher Jack Leftwich over the years from their days as travel ball opponents. That relationship grew into Smith trying out for the Orlando Scorpions travel team that Leftwich played on.

"It was the best thing Brady has ever done in his life,'' David said. "Two days later, UF sent a letter. That was the best $150 we've ever spent."

Smith and Leftwich eventually became teammates at the TNXL Academy. Smith moved in with the Leftwich family for his senior year of high school to play catcher, the position O'Sullivan had told him that he envisioned him playing for the Gators.

He quickly made an impression on his new teammates for his willingness to work.

"Brady was our only catcher,'' Leftwich said. "He would be catching the game and then he would run down to the bullpen and catch the pitcher to warm up. I think that helped him tremendously, catching all those games."

Still, playing the game's most mentally taxing position takes time to master. Smith has focused a lot of energy the last two years working on his own to learn the ins and outs of the position. He has relied heavily on O'Sullivan and assistant coach Lars Davis, both catchers during their playing days, for direction.

"Catching is tough,'' Smith said. "You're in every play. I'm having fun with it. I'm still learning. I'm just trying to be the best I can."
 
No one is questioning Smith's commitment, least of all his dad.

Following his senior season, the Rangers discussed a potential $600,000 offer if they selected him in the fifth round. The Mets also showed serious interest with a significant signing bonus. Smith considered his options, including loaded scholarship offers from Georgia Tech and USF. But having received a recruiting letter from the Gators before anyone else and knowing O'Sullivan's track record in developing prospects, he opted to take the college route and call McKethan Stadium home.

To prepare for his sophomore season, Smith played in the Cape Cod League last summer for the Cotuit (Mass.) Kettleers. He hit .333 (25-for-75) and got down and dirty behind the plate.

He would text photos to his parents as visual proof of the work he was putting in.

"They put him through a lot of blocking drills. He was literally black and blue from his wrist to his elbow on his catching hand trying to block stuff up. As a catcher, that's part of the territory. He's loving it."

The Gators (28-18, 9-12 SEC) are currently a long way from a return trip to Omaha. They travel to Georgia this weekend for another key series in their bid to make the postseason. A young pitching staff has been the primary culprit for the team's struggles in conference play.

As for the young catcher, he is trending upward, the growing pains becoming more manageable each day.

Following Brady's 2-for-2 performance that included a home run and three RBI in Sunday's win over Kentucky, the Smiths went out to dinner at Piesanos, a local pizzeria. They caught up before mom and dad got in the car for the long drive home.

Of course, they talked baseball too. In good times and bad, they always land on common ground.

"I've learned everything from my dad. He's the biggest part of my baseball career,'' Brady said. "It doesn't get better than that."