Rick Robinson was settling into his new job as the baseball coach at the University of Tennessee-Martin, moving some things around his office when he came across a few articles that had been written about the previous year’s team.
He made a somewhat startling discovery: His best returning pitcher had just one hand.
Now, Carter Smith is turning into one of the best pitchers in the Ohio Valley Conference. The 1.88m left-handed senior has been solid as a weekend starter for the Skyhawks, leading the conference with a 2.03 ERA in 31 innings, while striking out 29.
Most gratifying for Smith is he is being looked at as a good college pitcher, instead of a curiosity.
“It’s great that it’s a good story, but what I really wanted is to have success at this level,” Smith said. “It’s just working hard, staying persistent and being willing to put the time in to get better.”
The 22-year-old from St Louis was born without a right hand, but that did not stop him from grabbing a ball and glove as a youngster to play catch with his five siblings. He learned how to throw and catch through trial and error, slowly perfecting the technique that would allow him to have success at the Division I level.
When he pitches, he throws with his left hand while balancing the glove on right forearm. After he lets go of a pitch he quickly slips his left hand into the glove so that he can field a potential line drive, bunt or hard grounder. If he catches the ball, he pulls the glove off with his right arm, lets the ball fall into his left hand and gets in position to throw again.
It sounds difficult, but Robinson said Smith does it so seamlessly that it is barely noticeable.
“Honestly, I’d rather have him on the mound fielding a bunt in pressure situations than anyone else,” Robinson said. “He’s so smooth with it.”
Smith’s system is similar to that of former Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Abbott, who was also born without a right hand. He played 10 seasons in the big leagues, winning 87 games and even throwing a no-hitter.
Smith said his dad took him to Busch Stadium to watch Abbott pitch in the 1990s and it helped reinforce that having only one hand did not have to stop him from playing baseball.
Abbott, now 47 and living in California, said he was excited to learn about Smith’s success on the mound. He said he can also relate to one of Smith’s biggest goals: wanting to be known as a good pitcher, instead of the guy who plays with one hand.
“When you grow up missing a hand, you know what it’s like to want to fit in and want to be a part of something,” Abbott said. “Being a good teammate means not always wanting to call attention to yourself, so I know the battle he’s going through. I’m proud that he feels that way.”
Smith said he has tried to never let one hand affect what he can or cannot do in athletics.
He even played basketball as a freshman and sophomore in high school, before deciding to concentrate on baseball.
There have been a few adjustments in college — like learning to hide the ball a little better during his windup and delivery so batters cannot pick up the pitch from his grip — but for the most part his system has stayed the same since he was six years old.
He said teams have tried to lay down a few early bunts to see if he can field his position, but after a couple outs, they try a different strategy.
“It’s never bothered me,” Smith said. “I just look at it as a free out.”
Smith was voted a team captain during the off-season and has validated his teammates’ decision with great performances.
Robinson said Smith keeps opposing batters off-balance, despite a fastball that tops out between 138kph and 142kph.
Instead of pure velocity, he relies on good command, a slider and a deceptive change-up.
“Not only is he a really good pitcher for us, but he brings the love of baseball to the field every day,” Robinson said. “We have yet to find anything he can’t do. When you watch him handle himself on the mound, it’s pretty incredible.”
Like most playing Division I college baseball, Smith hopes his career can continue at the professional level next year, but if it does not, he is well prepared. He is majoring in sport management and has made the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll the past three seasons.
“I’d love to stay on the field playing, but maybe someday I’d like to get into the front office,” Smith said. “I definitely want to stay around the game no matter what happens.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but