For inmate Frankie Smith, baseball is a way of coping with bouts of cancer, incarceration and depression.
“Baseball takes me out of prison,” said Smith. “Baseball allows me to relive a happier time in my life.”
He started playing organized baseball at age 8. He also played high school baseball at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento. He went on to play for Sacramento City College as a utility player for the Panthers.
Smith, 59, says he worked for a school district until committing second-degree murder and receiving a 15-to-life sentence in 2002. He left behind two children, Zachary and Amy.
The hardest thing about being locked up is leaving his family members to fend for themselves, said Smith. In spite of everything, he says both children are successful. Amy recently got married.
Smith said the crime happened because, “I had become delusional and had a false sense of entitlement and was tired of being rejected or not taken seriously. I allowed my alcoholism to take over my life.”
Smith said he’s been coaching for the San Quentin baseball program for 10 years and has been the head inmate coach of the Giants for six. He started as a player/coach for the former S.Q. Pirates. The Pirates disbanded, and the prison’s second team became the A’s. Smith went over to the Giants.
Then life threw him a fastball.
In 2006, doctors checking out blockage in his bowels with an MRI found he had Renal Cell Carcinoma. They took out a kidney.
The fastball was followed by a curve, when cancer was found again.
“I was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma during a routine dental exam in June of 2011,” said Smith.
This type of cancer is very aggressive and becomes terminal for most patients if not detected in its early stages, added Smith.
He had no symptoms in either case, yet both cancers were caught in the early stages. Smith credits that to God’s mercy.
He was transported from San Quentin State Prison in September of 2011 to the University of California at San Francisco Hospital, where he underwent a 10 and a half hour operation, added Smith.
“They removed a tumor from the floor of my mouth and took part of my tongue and 84 lymph nodes from my neck and under my jaw line,” said Smith.
The surgery was successful, and he now lives cancer-free but wears a large scar under his right jaw line.
Smith has made giant strides in rehabilitation. At Patten University’s Prison Project, he has earned the Associate of Arts degree he had started pursuing at Sacramento City College.
“It was something that I dreamed of, and it’s a great accomplishment,” said Smith.
Additionally, he has completed a number of self-help programs, including Brother’s Keepers, CRI, VOEG, and Guiding Rage Into Power (GRIP).
“Prison allowed me to reflect on my bad decisions, and all these programs give me the tools to understand my actions and a way to change,” said Smith. “First I had to find sobriety. I came to the realization that I needed to learn how to ask for help.”
The admitted Motown music fan works as a gardener in the church courtyard.
“Playing in the dirt allows me to meditate while I’m beautifying the area,” said Smith. “It’s nice to bring beauty to what people perceive to be such an ugly place.”
Smith still takes on the challenges of baseball as he coaches the “Bad Boys of Summer,” a name given to the San Quentin Giants by a documentary film crew, said Smith.
“I enjoy watching the players grow. It gives me personal satisfaction to share baseball knowledge with them,” said Smith.
This program is about much more than playing baseball against outside teams; it allows players to participate in something that takes them out of this environment, added Smith.
“Baseball teaches these guys to break the color barriers and politics of prison, teaching them to work toward a common goal as a cohesive group,” said Smith. “Baseball is a lot like life: one must be willing to battle but know it takes patience to succeed.”
That aspect of baseball is what makes it a valid rehabilitation program, added Smith. “It is also therapeutic for me as I get to teach the finer points of baseball to a group of very talented players who have made great strides of personal growth.”
Being able to play baseball against teams like the Santa Monica Suns is a privilege, added Smith.
“The Suns’ manager, Bob Sharka, is a class act; he truly cares about us,” said Smith. “Their team is comprised of compassionate players who appreciate us as ballplayers and men.
“There are a lot of guys that can do what I do. I’m just privileged to be given that opportunity to do something I love,” said Smith.
“It is really about the players; they make this program what it is. The outside coaches, Eliot Smith and Mike Deeble, run the show. I’m just along for the ride and to throw my two cents in when necessary,” Smith said. “Without the outside coaches and the administration, this program would not be possible.”
–Mike Pinellia contributed to this story
