Dwight Smith Jr. on the Players League and the boom boom room

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

May 06, 2020, 1:06pm

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No, it was not real baseball on an actual diamond. But the MLB the Show Players League provided a few weeks' worth of entertainment, as all 30 big league teams were represented by one of their players in the three-inning video game contests.

Fans could watch live via the Internet and the playoffs were actually televised on ESPN networks and FS1. Tampa Bay and pitcher Blake Snell won in the championship series, three games to none over the Chicago White Sox and pitcher Lucas Giolito.

For the Orioles, outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. did them proud. He went 19-10 in the regular season, where each team/player played every other of the 29 clubs/players. Smith made the eight-team playoffs as the No. 5 seed before losing, two games to none, in round one to Jeff McNeil of the New York Mets by scores of 3-2 and 3-1.

But if O's fans watched any of the competition, they saw Smith's energetic personality. He would scream out "Let's go O's" often and "Welcome to the boom boom room" when Trey Mancini had a big hit. He actually used that phrase for other players, too.

"I actually got it from the movie 'Life' with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence," Smith said yesterday during a Zoom interview session with O's media. "There was a scene in there they were talking about the boom boom room. I just came out of nowhere, just trash talking. I said it and people just liked it. So that is what happened."

And fans really got to see Smith's personality come out.

"They pretty much saw my more relaxed side and my competitive side at the same time," Smith said. "When I am on the game, I'm all business. But when I'm off the field, I'm like a totally different person, more relaxed. Just chill. Just having fun. But when I'm playing the game, I just flip that switch. So they saw two different sides of me."

Smith was named manager of the year and that was said to be because he did more with less. Yep, the O's were not considered to be a good team in this league either.

"Playing on that side of it was pretty cool," Smith said of managing. "Playing a video game virtually and giving the fans something to talk about and cheer for was kind of a cool experience. One of coolest things I've done for a video game.

"But manager-wise, I probably won't get into anything like that until I'm done playing. I'll let Brandon (Hyde) handle that," Smith said with a laugh.

Smith enjoyed playing with and managing his O's teammates.

"I like playing with all of them," he said. "Pretty much everyone had their moment during the season I played. I liked bringing Chris Davis in when I introduced the chat and wanted to make a move and hit a homer. That was cool. Trey with the boom boom room, that was awesome. People loved that. And playing myself, I loved my leg kick and all that. That was kind of cool. Getting a couple of base hits to win a game. Hopefully we'll do that in the season too and that will translate into the season. It was awesome."

And the boom boom room moments were meaningful, as Mancini is currently undergoing chemotherapy after colon cancer surgery.

"That was just another moment of Trey being Trey," Smith said. "He is one of the heart and souls of our team. Him hitting homers was nothing new. I expect that. I honestly thought a lot of guys were not rated that high and Trey is one of them. He should have had a higher rating, especially after last year. So, I hope they do, like, an update to boost him a little bit."

If you missed this: I was on with Paul Mancano yesterday on "MASN All Access." Click here to see that. Paul and I went in depth on Hunter Harvey and Ryan McKenna.

The latest on the season: ESPN published this article last night. It provides information on the potential for Major League Baseball to start a second spring training in June and begin the season in July. No proposals between players and owners have been submitted for discussion and/or approval, but it seems that may well happen very soon. All of this is contingent on so many things, chief among them the health and safety of all involved.

The story states this: "Already dozens of players are working out at team facilities around the country, according to sources, and the possibility of holding a three-to-four-week spring training at teams' home stadiums appeals to a number of stakeholders. After entertaining the ideas of quarantining all players in Arizona or using three-or five-city hubs to hold games, there is momentum toward the league trying to play games in home stadiums, sources said."

There is also this excerpt: "The look of the game and season will be determined in any agreement between the league and union. Multiple executives have suggested that as many as 50 players will be available for teams to use, and that they'll have active rosters of up to 30 players each game. The length of the season, should it start in July, could be between 80 and 100 games.

"Any agreement is likely to include contingency plans going forward, sources said. Some officials fear a so-called second wave of coronavirus cases that some health officials have forecast and believe that instead of planning to play into late November, with an expanded playoff system, MLB would be better suited playing a shorter season that gives the league a greater likelihood to avoid potential complications."