(June 20, 2006) ?C Former Fordham baseball Ram Greg Smith has signed a professional contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates and has been assigned to the Pirates?? NY-Penn League affiliate (A), the Williamsport Crosscutters.
Smith, who was selected in the 14th round (pick #410) of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft by Pittsburgh, is the fourth Fordham baseball draft pick to sign a professional contract in the past five seasons, joining Rob Semerano (2004), Bobby Kingsbury (2002) and Jason Conlisk (2002). Kingsbury, a ninth-round pick of Pittsburgh in 2002 who was slated to start the season for the Pirates AA affiliate, also started his professional career with the Crosscutter in 2002. He is sitting out the 2006 season with an injury suffered in March.
A 2006 First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection, Smith had an outstanding senior campaign, hitting .376 (68-181) with 17 doubles, 13 home runs, 48 RBI, 46 runs scored and a .696 slugging percentage, all team-highs for the Rams as well as career-highs for Smith. He led the Atlantic 10 in slugging percentage and tied for the lead in home runs while ranking third in the conference in hitting, seventh in RBI and runs scored, eighth in doubles and tenth in hits.
Smith??s 13 home runs in 2006 is the third best single season total in Fordham history while his 17 doubles is tied for fourth best, his 68 hits is tied for sixth best and his 48 RBI is tied for eighth best.
For his career, Smith appeared in 190 games, amassing a school record 241 career hits. He surpassed the former record of 236 set by Tom Stein from 1995-99 in the final series of the year. He also finished his career with 55 doubles, 25 home runs and 132 RBI. The 55 career doubles is a Fordham record, surpassing Pete Deluca who collected 50 doubles from 1989-92, while Smith ranked third on the games played list and fifth on the Fordham all-time home run and RBI lists. He also recorded 60 hits in each of his last three years at Fordham, becoming the first Ram to collect 60 or more hits in three straight years.
Smith, who served as a team captain in 2006 and was named Preseason All-Conference by Baseball America, was named the team??s Co-MVP this spring for the second straight year.
As a member of Williamsport, Smith will return to the New York City area when the Crosscutters come to town to face the Staten Island Yankees (July 18-20).
