Former major league star Reggie Smith was in the Orioles clubhouse this morning. Smith is the hitting coach for the Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, but was here representing a company that makes custom-fitted bats..

Smith brings back memories. I covered the Los Angeles Dodgers in the early 1980s and Reggie was a big part of those Dodgers teams that were so successful then. He was a fearsome player and an intimidating personality, but he was also very intelligent and could be charming when he wasn't scaring the hell out of a young sports writer or an opposing pitcher.

He's been a coach for Team USA since the late 1990s and has worked with the team through three Olympic cycles. (He's shown at right coaching first base in the bronze medal game at the Beijing Olympics) The WBC experience is a little different, however, since the team is made up of established players who don't require a great deal of coaching.

"I just want to get to know their routines and be there if they need something,'' he said. "Where we can help them a lot is with information on the opposing pitchers and what they can expect from them."

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