New Cubs prospect comes from a family of Cubs fans
Patty and Billy Thomas love the Cubs.
So much so that they passed that admiration down to their family, including their grandson, the Cubs’ 2024 1st-round pick, Cam Smith. So, when Smith was a child, his grandparents took him on a trip to historic Wrigley Field on a tour of the stadium.
“[The Cubs] were away,” Smith recalled. “I can’t remember where they were at, but they were away and I just took the tour that all fans take.”
Smith doesn’t fully remember the experience and the intricacies of the Friendly Confines, but pictures he has of the trip help him recall bits and pieces.
After a 1st-round pick signs, they traditionally get a tour of Wrigley Field and journey with family and friends to it. So, Smith hopes to return the favor to his grandparents.
“We’re just so excited to go back there once again and I can actually remember the experience and it’ll be engraved in my head forever and I’ll never forget about it,” Smith said. “It’s gonna be a treat, man. And I assume we’re gonna get emotional again.”
It’s a full-circle moment for Smith, 21, who had a breakout campaign this spring at Florida State.
The infielder slashed .387/.488/.654 with 16 home runs and 57 RBI in 66 games while helping lead the Seminoles to the 2024 College World Series. It came a year after hitting .258 with 12 home runs.
“I definitely developed an approach that I stuck to all season long and I was stubborn with it because I knew what worked for me and I knew that’s what I was best at,” Smith said. “So, I just stuck to it and that was just hitting low-line drives and the right-center gap. So that’s really what changed my game and let me see the ball deeper.”
A change in his mental approach between his freshman and sophomore seasons helped, too.
In the Cape Cod League, Smith picked up meditating. He did so to try and help him slow down a game that’s always go, go, go.
“I took pride in meditation, and it got to a point where it was a hobby,” Smith said. “[I was] doing it before, after the games, during the games, even when I’m at third base or on the on-deck circle.
“So, meditation is something that slowed my heartbeat down and that’s something huge that gets you a long way in this game.”
He and the Cubs will hope that will lead to success at Wrigley Field — where the photos and memories will be constant and forever entrenched in his mind.
“I just got a big support system,” Smith said. “So, to hear my name called, I just broke down in tears immediately managers it all hit me at once.”