LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) \u2014 He grew up playing baseball on Louisville fields. Now, Dodgers catcher Will Smith is back on the game\u2019s biggest stage, chasing his third World Series ring.<\/p>\n
Smith, a former standout at the University of Louisville, has become one of Major League Baseball\u2019s top catchers since being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round in 2016. He\u2019s already a two-time World Series champion and a three-time MLB All-Star.<\/p>\n
At UofL, Smith left a lasting impression on head coach Dan McDonnell, who keeps a sign of Smith holding a World Series trophy on his desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not often you have a local kid that plays at your university and is one of the best players in the game,\u201d McDonnell said. \u201cIn the time that he was here, we might have won more games in that three-year stretch than any other.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDonnell said watching Smith win it all last year was a proud moment. \u201cGrowing up a lifelong Yankee fan, I had to remind my brother we couldn\u2019t root for the Yankees that night, Will Smith got us tickets,\u201d he said with a smile.<\/p>\n
Before the bright lights, Smith was already standing out at Kentucky Country Day. His former coach, Joe Maione, remembers spotting his potential when Smith was just in second grade.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just had kind of an electric arm,\u201d Maione said. \u201cHe could really throw the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
By middle school, Smith was starting on the varsity team. \u201cTremendous work ethic, tremendous human being, and a lot of talent to go with it,\u201d Maione said.<\/p>\n
When Smith reached the big leagues, he sent Maione a signed jersey that still hangs in the coach\u2019s office. \u201cThank you for all you\u2019ve done to help me \u2014 wouldn\u2019t have been able to be here without you,\u201d Maione read from what Smith wrote.<\/p>\n
Both of his former coaches agree, Smith\u2019s calm and steady nature has been key to his success.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s never gonna get too high,\u201d McDonnell said.
\u201cNever too low, just always that calm demeanor,\u201d Maione added.<\/p>\n
Now, the banner hanging over Jim Patterson Stadium\u00a0calls him a \u201cHometown Hero.\u201d If the Dodgers win again, Will Smith could soon add a third championship ring to his collection.<\/p>\n
More Local News:<\/strong><\/p>\n Need food assistance? Here’s a list of food pantries and resources in the Louisville area<\/a><\/p>\n Louisville officials crack down on JCPS families with truant children<\/a><\/p>\n Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announces re-election campaign<\/a><\/p>\n UPS cuts 48,000 jobs in the year to date as its turnaround continues<\/a><\/p>\n Man charged with grabbing young girl’s leg in bathroom stall of Charlestown Jay C store<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2025 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) \u2014 He grew up playing baseball on Louisville fields. Now, Dodgers catcher Will Smith is back on the game\u2019s biggest stage, chasing his third World Series ring. Smith, a former standout at the University of Louisville, has become one of Major League Baseball\u2019s top catchers since being drafted by the Los Angeles … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Louisville-native-Will-Smith-chasing-third-World-Series-ring-with.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8220"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8222,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8220\/revisions\/8222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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