Mark Smith began his professional career with the
Frederick Keys in 1991. His best minor league season was in 1992 with the Class AA
Hagerstown Suns, where he was selected as an outfielder for the
Eastern League End of Season All Star Team, Smith played Major League Baseball between 1994 and 2003 for the
Baltimore Orioles,
Pittsburgh Pirates,
Florida Marlins,
Montreal Expos and
Milwaukee Brewers. In 1999, he played in
Japan for the
Yakult Swallows. In 2005, he played in
South Korea for the
Hanwha Eagles, but was released on the regular season. What may be regarded as the most noteworthy of Smith's accomplishments on the baseball diamond occurred on July 12, 1997. Smith hit a 3-run
home run off of
John Hudek in the bottom of the 10th inning in a scoreless game to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 3–0 win over the
Houston Astros. The home run also ended the first extra-innings combined
no-hitter in MLB history.
Francisco Córdova no-hit the Astros in the first 9 innings, while reliever
Ricardo Rincón pitched a hitless 10th inning for the Pirates. ==Award for heroism==