Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith had himself a day on Saturday, blasting a game-winning home run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Fittingly, Saturday was also Smith’s birthday and the night a bobblehead celebrating his last game-winning home run, the one he hit in extra innings of Game 7 of the World Series, was given out to fans.
His teammates noted the coincidence with a bobblehead celebration in the dugout.
But the dugout was hardly the only place that highlighted the bobblehead connection.
SportsNet LA’s Stephen Nelson and Orel Hershiser were ready for the birthday and bobblehead connections when Smith took the plate for the fourth time that night.
Despite being 0-for-3 in the game, Nelson suggested Smith would “hand out a present on his birthday, perhaps,” and that’s exactly what happened.
Hershiser was similarly ready for a big moment.
“His pulse didn’t change in the World Series. His pulse won’t change tonight on his birthday and his bobblehead [night],” he said.
Moments later, Smith drilled a homer over the center field wall, and Hershiser picked up Smith’s bobblehead and showed it off as Nelson emphasized Smith’s “birthday and bobblehead night magic.”
What Did Will Smith’s Teammates Say About the Homer?
The Dodgers echoed Hershiser’s assessment when explaining the secret to Smith’s success in big moments.
“Baseball’s a hard game, and when moments get big like that, your heart rate tends to rise,” Max Muncy told Katie Woo of The Athletic. “He’s got a pretty good ability to just kind of slow things down. When you’re able to slow things down in those moments, you generally put yourself in a good spot. He’s just really, really good at doing that. It’s an ability that not everyone has, but he definitely has it.”
“I think the heartbeat makes him reliable in those situations,” manager Dave Roberts added to Woo. “I think his ability to spoil pitches, to put the bat on the ball, he doesn’t chase very much, so he trusts his swing to see the ball a little bit longer with two strikes in big moments, and then when he gets a pitch he can handle, then he feels convicted to take a good swing.”
How is Will Smith Playing in 2026?
In the first three games of the season, Smith has gone 3-for-11, a .273 average, though two of those three hits are home runs, resulting in an otherworldly slugging percentage of .818.
He’s also driven in five runs.
Do you think Will Smith will keep performing at the plate in 2026?
