The road to the Big Leagues in baseball can often be winding, circuitous and grueling. No path is ever the same, and every player has some sort of obstacle to overcome to finally playing in the show. Most of those stories, even though not the same, are similar across the history of the game, but it’s safe to say there aren’t many prospects who were scouted after they were found when they were… groundskeepers.
Pitcher Jake Smith was a groundskeeper for the Low-A team the Augusta GreenJackets. He did it all; dragging the infield, watering the grass, everything in the sweltering Georgian summers. Four years after he began that job at Lake Olmstead Stadium, and one year after striking out 118 batters in 84 minor league innings, he’s on the Giants 40 man roster with a real chance to open up the 2016 season in San Francisco. Quite a far cry from Augusta.
“You know the scene from ‘Caddyshack,’ right?” Giants pitching coordinator Bert Bradley said. “Former groundskeeper, now leading the Masters … well, we actually have that.”
Smith was a part of the groundscrew for three seasons after growing up just across the Savannah River in North Augusta, South Carolina. He then, with a little help, made his way onto the Darton State College baseball team. His coach there, Augie Rodriguez, helped him get a job with the GreenJackets that paid nothing except the currency of absorbing the game from up close, even if meant doing the dirty work to stick around.
“I love the game,” said Smith, “and I wanted to see how it was run from the professional side, see how professional players conducted themselves.”
He used that knowledge to transfer to Campbell University for the 2010 season, and when Bradley and Giants adviser Felipe Alou were in Augusta where he was still doing part-time groundskeeping, Smith threw in front of them and got a few pointers. He then, with Rodriguez, moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he got the news that the Giants had drafted him in the 48th round. He only had spent enough time there to get one bonus check for $5,000, which barely covered his student loans. Not like he was complaining.
1,466 players were picked ahead of him. But he made sure to make the most of his chance.
“He was just middle of the pack when he got here but he grew a little bit, got better with his mechanics and all of the sudden he started throwing hard,” Bradley said. “Until last year, he wasn’t really on everybody’s radar. In a year and a half, he’s gone from being maybe an organizational guy to a viable major league prospect.”
Smith is projected to start the season with AA Richmond, and he still gets the occasional comment about his former job as a groundskeeper.
“But every once in awhile I’ll see him longingly looking at the rakes,” said Bradley. “And I’ll say, `Jake, you’re done with that.’”
