PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Dominic Smith honed his defensive skills as a youngster, creating games for himself in his backyard. Now, the New York Mets are finally starting to see the all-around game that made the first baseman a top draft pick out of high school.
At his childhood home in Los Angeles, Smith would spend hours practicing by himself by throwing a ball in his barren backyard, firing it repeatedly at a staircase to create an unpredictable grounder or flyball.
“We had a staircase in the backyard that probably had 15 stairs, pretty high,” the left-handed Smith recalled.