He was C.J. Vogt in the superhero drama “The Cape” and was billed as Theater Kid No. 1 in the family drama series “Parenthood.”
The Dayton Dragons outfielder was a child actor, first ushered into the business, he said, as a 3-year-old by his mom, the actress Janell Inez, whose credits include a long list of character appearances on popular TV shows like “CSU: Miami, “Under Lock and Key,” “Bones,” “Las Vegas,” “The King of Queens” and “About a Boy.”
She was a regular on the “Steve Harvey Show” with her “Handy Ma’am” segments. She has done scores of TV commercials. She was also Miss Black Maryland USA.
“We did commercials together, too,” Smith said as he sat outside the Dragons’ clubhouse at Day Air Ballpark the other evening, a couple of hours before the rain-delayed game with Fort Wayne.
“There was one for Wells Fargo and another for ADT (security systems) and maybe one for Walmart. I can’t quite remember them all.”
With a bit of a grin, he added: “I think I was pretty good. I think I had a skill for acting.”
At his famed school, Crossroads School for the Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica, especially when he got into high school, he was given another role.
The school has a Who’s Who of well-known alumni, especially from the entertainment business and also from sports: Gwyneth Paltrow; Kate Hudson; Jonah Hill; Maya Rudolph; Jason Ritter; Gary Coleman; Jack Black; the sisters Emily and Zooey Deschanel. They all went to Crossroads. So did professional basketball players Baron Davis, Austin Croshere and Bronny James.
When Smith was there, he said his fellow classmates included the progeny of several red-carpet regulars:
“Both of Gwyneth Paltrow’s kids were there, and so was Jessica Alba’s daughter,” he said. “Tobey Maguire’s son went there, and Lil Wayne’s son did, too. Both of LeBron’s sons — Bronny and Bryce — went there and so did four of Shaq’s kids.
“Shaq’s one son is my good friend. We played basketball together. Shaq used to come to a lot of the games, and that would become a big deal. The stands would be packed and there’d be YouTubers and photographers on the sidelines and behind the benches.”
In the midst of such a celebrity swirl, where did Smith fit in?
“I was there from fourth grade until I graduated, and I was mostly just known as Ira’s son,” he said.
That especially was the case when he was the point guard on the varsity basketball team and the impressive centerfielder on the baseball team.
His dad, Ira Smith, who was the school’s athletics director, has his own impressive resume.
He’s still remembered as one of the greatest hitters in NCAA baseball history. Playing at Maryland-Eastern Shore, he was the first player in NCAA history to win back-to-back Division I batting titles.
After hitting .488 in 1989, Ira upped his average to .521 in the 1990 season.
Today — 35 years later — that .521 remains the sixth-best single season hitting performance in the history of the NCAA. And his .431 career average is No. 14 all-time.
Those performances got Ira inducted into the halls of fame at his school, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.
Coming out of college, Ira was drafted in the 37th round of the 1990 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers and spent 14 years in pro ball, nine of which came with minor league teams of the Dodgers, San Diego Padres and the Detroit Tigers.
He followed that with five seasons in independent league baseball and went on to be a coach with the Lincoln Saltdogs and Joliet JackHammers
For the past 12 years he’s been the athletics director at Crossroads.
Once Myles finished high school, he spent three years at the University of California Irvine, where he was a baseball standout.
The Cincinnati Reds drafted him in the seventh-round last season. He spent the summer in the Arizona Complex League.
This season he got a surprise promotion. Skipping Low-A ball with the Daytona Tortugas, he was sent to the High-A Dragons.
Although he played sparingly in the first five games of the season — seven at-bats and one hit in two appearances — he sat there on this cold and rainy evening, all personality and smiles.
His past, his parents, the pedigrees of all those classmates — all that was back in California now.
“Yeah, now I’m just Myles Smith,” he smiled. “I’m Myles Smith of the Dayton Dragons and that’s pretty cool.
“That’s not a bad role at all.”
Surprised to be in Dayton
Smith admitted feeling “pretty lucky” when it comes to parental genes:
“I got the whole package with them.
“I’d say my mom gave me everything that’s not baseball related — my personality, my sense of humor. She taught me a lot about life off the baseball field.
“My dad gave me plenty of those lessons, too, but he was really a blessing when it comes to baseball. He taught me everything he knows.
“He had outrageous numbers as a hitter — he just didn’t miss fastballs — but it was more than that. He knows the game and what it takes at this level.”
Smith hit. 619 as a senior at Crossroads and ended up the MVP of the league.
He played three seasons at UC Irvine and hit. 401 in the last one. He was named the Big West Field Player of the Year and won second team All-America honors.
After spending last summer with the Reds developmental team in the Arizona Complex League, he was a bit apprehensive when was promoted to Dayton.
““Honestly I was shocked,” he said. “I absolutely wanted to play here, but I figured I’d go to Daytona because I hadn’t played in a single minor league game yet.
“I was kind of worried at first. I didn’t know any of the guys on the team. But everyone has been super cool. The team is great, and the stadium is beautiful.”
When Manager Vince Harrison heard Myles’ dad’s name was Ira, he quickly made a connection from his own past:
“He was my manager in indie ball with the Joliet JackHammers in 2009,” Harrison said. “And that’s how I know Myles is getting the right kind of messages in his baseball.
“After we found out our roster in spring training — on the last day — I told the team I wanted them to think about this: ‘What do you need from me as a manager?’
“Myles took his time and actually just got back to me with his answer yesterday. It took him like a week and a half, but that said a lot about him. He thought about it. He basically wanted to know what I can do to help him stay professional. He wanted to know about the learning curve he’d face.
“He’s detail-oriented — a real sharp individual. He’s just a good kid.”
Credit: NICK FALZERANO
Credit: NICK FALZERANO
Thinking about the future
While he dreams of one day playing in the big leagues — a step farther than his dad made it, though he did labor three years in Triple-A ball with the Las Vegas Stars — Smith thinks in the future he could revive that once-budding acting career he left behind to pursue baseball:
“I think I could pick it up again,” he said. “It might take a little time to get into it, but I think I could be pretty good at it.”
Asked what kind of roles he might gravitate to, he didn’t hesitate.
“I’m not big on the romances, I’m more into action films. So yeah I ‘d want to be an action hero.”
If he’s lucky, he’ll get some practice for that right here at the plate and on the field.
Like he said, being a Dayton Dragon, “that’s not a bad role at all.”
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