BALTIMORE -- Tyler Smith became a ballboy for the Orioles in 2019, when his younger brother, Austen, suggested they attend tryouts together. They both fared well and got invited back for the second round. And then ... they became co-workers, as each landed a job with the O’s.
Now, the elder Smith -- a former health and physical education teacher at Dillsburg (Pa.) Elementary School who is transitioning to an administrative role in the East Pennsboro Area School district -- will be heading to the 2024 MLB All-Star Game due to his ballboy skills.
Smith is one of two ballboys who won a trip to Globe Life Field in Arlington to be part of the MLB All-Star Ball Crew, as announced Wednesday. He and Rays ballboy Braden Coles were selected via fan voting and will receive a full All-Star Week experience for the Midsummer Classic.
"I just kind of keep pinching myself," said the 31-year-old Smith, who lives in Camp Hill, Pa., and commutes more than an hour for his ballboy shifts at Camden Yards during the season. "It’s pretty unbelievable."
A play that occurred late in the Orioles’ 4-1 loss to the Angels on March 31 got Smith nominated for the All-Star recognition.
2024 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard
• Gameday
• AL tops NL, 5-3, in 94th All-Star Game
• Duran named All-Star Game MVP
• Best moments from the All-Star Game
• Ohtani hits Dodgers' 1st ASG homer since 1996
• Skenes passes All-Star test with scoreless 1st for NL
• Complete coverage
In the ninth inning of that game, Halos batter Brandon Drury lined a pitch from right-hander Yennier Cano down the right-field line. Smith, the ballboy on the first-base side at the time, wasn’t expecting any balls off the bat of the right-handed-hitting Drury to come his way.
Yet, Smith hopped up from his seat and made an exceptional play. He didn’t catch Drury’s liner on the fly, which ended up making the moment even more impressive. The ball bounced off the rolled-up tarp and somehow directly up into Smith’s well-positioned glove.
“At that point, without diving over the tarp, I just had to kind of lean over and put my glove out and hope for the best,” Smith said. “And that it didn’t kick back toward my face.”
Smith is in his fourth season as a ballboy for the Orioles. (He didn’t work during the 2020 and ‘21 campaigns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.) So he’s gotten plenty of action in foul territory in recent years. But this play is one he ranks “way above the rest of them, for sure.”
It also gave Smith family bragging rights over his brother/fellow ballboy.
“I give him a hard time,” Smith said. “He did say he thinks my eyes were closed on the play.”
Even if that was the case, the ball still ended up in Smith’s glove -- which was a piece of fresher leather he had been working hard to try to break in for at least a year up to that point.
“That was a sign to me that, ‘All right, this glove is finally ready if it’s able to make a play like that,’” Smith said.
Before becoming a ballboy, Smith already had an affinity for the Orioles. He grew up going to games with his family, including his dad, a season-ticket holder. Smith was also once an employee at the former O’s team store that was located in York, Pa.
Smith’s favorite part about his current job with the Orioles is the interactions he has with fans at the ballpark throughout the summer. While stationed down either baseline, he frequently chats with the spectators in the first rows of seats.
The conversations have changed greatly since Smith’s first year in 2019 -- also Baltimore’s first year under general manager Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde and a season in which the O’s went 54-108 while early in their rebuild.
“To see some of the fans that were there in 2019, talking about like, ‘I can’t wait for the day this place is packed,’ and now, we’re at that point, where every week it feels like there’s all these people there,” Smith said. “The energy around the stadium is unbelievable. It’s just such a different experience than what it was a couple years ago.”
In 2023, the Orioles sent four players to the All-Star Game en route to winning the American League East title. This year, they again have four: catcher Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson in the starting lineup, along with right-hander Corbin Burnes and infielder Jordan Westburg.
Because Smith won the fan vote, he’ll be joining them for the Texas-sized All-Star festivities.
"I just kind of keep pinching myself,” Smith said Wednesday on MLB Network. “It’s pretty unbelievable.”