TAMPA —Parents honor deceased children in different ways. For Matt Smith, getting Yankees players to sign a poster loaded with pictures of son, Steven, and meeting the players was his avenue.
When the Yankees started batting practice at Bright House Field yesterday, Matt was in the seats with the poster. Alerted by YES announcer Michael Kay, Joe Girardi looked for the poster and the manager invited Matt to the batting cage.
“When Joe saw the sign he signed it,’’ said Matt, a lung specialist in Largo. “He asked me to watch BP. It was an honor. The irony is that Steven would have given his life to be on the field and I was on the field.’’
Steven Smith, 24, was involved in a fender bender on the way home from Albany to Scotch Plains, N.J., late on Dec. 13 on the N.Y. Thruway. He got out of the car to survey the damage and was struck by another car. He died the next day.
A graduate of Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School and George Washington University, Steven Smith was a popular blogger, a presence on Twitter and a broadcaster for the Bowie Baysox, a Double-A minor league baseball team in Maryland.
“He was trying to break in as a sportscaster and that is a tough hill to climb,’’ Matt said. “He had a big following on Twitter and he had things to say and was going to be too important to ignore.’’
Girardi took the poster to the Yankees’ clubhouse to be signed and will mail it to Matt when he collects more signatures today.
“He has been through a lot the past year and a half,’’ Girardi said. “You never imagine what people are going through.’’