Hard Work Could Finally Pay Off for Outfielder Smith : Baseball: USC standout may get chance to play in majors after the Baltimore Orioles select him ninth in free agent draft.

Arcadia High baseball Coach John Meiers knew that outfielder Mark Smith always possessed major-league talent. The only problem, Meiers said, was that Smith didn’t always have the work habits to match his skills.

“He was the prototype of a big, lazy, content-to-get-by high school baseball player,” Meiers said.

So toward the end of Smith’s senior season in 1988, Meiers decided to have a talk with the player.

“It was during practice and he was just dogging it and I just got fed up with him and I told him he didn’t have to worry about anything because he wasn’t going to have a future in baseball anyway,” Meiers said.

Smith said his conversation with Meiers may have been the most important ingredient in his development as a player. He finished the season with an impressive .468 batting average and was an All-San Gabriel Valley selection.

“I wasn’t really ready to play college baseball when I got out of high school,” Smith said. “I don’t think anyone really is. But (Meiers) showed me what I needed to do to get to the next level.”

Smith, 21, went on to play at USC and was selected ninth overall by the Baltimore Orioles in the annual free agent draft earlier in the month.

“I was following Mark ever since the end of that (senior) season and we went together on an Australia trip (with a touring team) so we had a lot of time to talk,” Meiers said. “I knew he’d eventually catch fire. It was just a matter of time.”

Since he first started attending USC on a partial scholarship three years ago, Smith has made steady progress.

In his freshman season, he started as a designated hitter and outfielder and batted .338 and drove in 32 runs. But he hit only one home run.

“When I first got to SC, I was just getting a lot of singles,” Smith said. “My goal was to increase my power and (hit) to all fields.”

As a sophomore, he hit 11 home runs and drove in 54 runs and as a junior, when he earned consensus All-American honors, he hit 16 home runs and drove in 80 runs.

Smith has a .336 career batting average and also is USC’s career leader in runs batted in, stolen bases and triples and is second in hits and runs scored.

“The way I see myself is as a player who doesn’t have any noticeable holes,” he said. “I’m not flashy like a Darryl Strawberry, but I can run, hit, throw and play defense.”

Smith may have made his biggest impression with pro scouts last summer, when he played for Wareham of the Cape Cod League in Massachusetts. Smith led the league in batting with a .408 average--the first player to hit over .400 since the league switched to wooden bats--and was named the league’s most valuable player and top professional prospect.

“Baseball’s never been easy for me, especially when it comes to hitting, and that summer at the Cape Cod League was great because it seemed like I could hit everything that they threw at me,” Smith said.

The success carried into his junior season with the Trojans, although he struggled offensively late in the season. Despite a difficult series in the NCAA West Regionals, Meiers says he has been impressed by Smith’s approach to the game.

“Anyone can do good when things are going good, but he’s had his share of slumps and come through them,” Meiers said. “He had a bad day in the regional tournament and the very next day he was at Arcadia hitting batting practice for an hour. That said something to me because he would’ve never done that when he was (playing) here.”

It was a difficult way for Smith to end the season, but it did not stop the Orioles from selecting him.

Reports prior to the draft had Smith being chosen as early as No. 3 by the Minnesota Twins. Smith was hardly disappointed with his position in the draft, though.

“I was really excited when I found out,” he said. “It’s something I will always remember. Being in the top 10 is really an honor. It’s something not too many other people can say.”

Although Smith is excited about the prospect of playing pro baseball, he is not in a hurry to sign with the Orioles.

“I’m anxious to go out and play, but with the way the signings are going, people are really holding out a little longer now,” Smith said. “You kind of have to wait and see what people around you go for first.”

Smith, who has been represented by attorney Arn Tellum, said he will probably sign within the next few weeks.

“I don’t feel I’m going to be a real tough guy to sign,” he said. “I just want to wait and see what’s a fair (amount) and take it from there.”

In the meantime, Smith is staying in shape and working on his hitting stroke every day.

When he does sign, Smith expects to start in either the Class-A or double-A level. He is not concerned about how long it will take him to reach the big leagues.

“Obviously, I would want to get there as soon as possible,” he said. “I’ve already proven myself at a high quality (NCAA) Division I program and at 21, I’m older than somebody coming out of high school. So, when I prove myself at each level, I just want to move up as quickly as possible.”

Meiers does not think it will take long for Smith to reach the majors.

“To tell you how confident I am about him, they asked me from the Baltimore Sun how good he is and I said, ‘I don’t know who’s in your outfield at Memorial Stadium but he’s going to be out there soon.’ ”