Grimes grad Jason Smorol hits home run with Syracuse Mets
By Tami S. Scott, associate editor
When asked what sport he excelled at in high school, Jason Smorol’s response was unexpected.
“None of them,” he said. “I was a horrible athlete.”
But that didn’t stop the now Syracuse Mets general manager from trying out and making teams as a Bishop Grimes Jr/Sr High School student. The Class of ’87 kid ran track, made the cut for wrestling, hit the greens and wore the helmet under the stadium lights during his four-year stint at the Catholic school.
But he never played baseball.
“[Coach] Paul Taylor had to let me on the football team — he needed bodies. He did not have to let me on the baseball team,” Smorol said.
Since then, Smorol made a name for himself — maybe not as a famous athlete — but definitely in sports. After years of building his resume with minor-league teams in Watertown, Batavia and Staten Island, then teaching sports management at SUNY Cortland as an adjunct professor, he went on to enjoy a successful run as the general manager for the Auburn Doubledays. He left the game when he and his wife Rachel began to have children.
“Being at the ballpark … you’re here 12 to 16 hours a day sometimes,” he said. “So, with a brand-new baby, it just really wasn’t the best family situation.”
Smorol spent the next decade working for Hilti, Inc., a construction supply manufacturer that offered normal hours and a bit more pay.
And then he got the call — but first it came as a friend request.
“[I was] getting ready for the next week that was coming up for Hilti and I see that I got a Facebook friend request from Bill Dutch, who’s the president of the Syracuse Chiefs and somebody I’d met years and years ago,” Smorol said. “And then my wife came up and said, ‘This guy named Bill Dutch is on the phone for you.’”
The dialogue opened with small talk then Dutch cut to the chase. He asked if Smorol would like to be the general manager for the Syracuse Chiefs. Smorol put him on a brief hold.
“I said, ‘Honey, can I go be the general manager for the Syracuse Chiefs?’ I had been out of it for 10 years. She said, ‘Sure, that sounds like a great idea.’”
And the rest — after a series of interviews and vetting — is history.
“I’m going on my 11th year,” Smorol said.
The Golden Rule
Faith is a must-have for Smorol, who attended St. Rose of Lima School in North Syracuse before Grimes. He recalled the teachings of Jesus on love and forgiveness, and particularly on treating people well.
“My faith guides me to do the right thing, to live by the Golden Rule; to always have a win-win-win attitude and philosophy that it’s got to be good for the fans, it’s got to be good for the team [and] it’s got to be good for the sponsor,” he said, noting that his business decisions are fair, open and transparent.
Not all the themed events held throughout the season earn accolades from everyone, though. Smorol said he sometimes gets flak from community members about Pride Night, Faith and Family Night and celebrating different cultures. But the critics don’t phase him.
“I think that so many people misconstrue [Jesus’s] message of love, and misconstrue those simple commandments that we have, into their own personal gain,” he said. “As long as anything is positive and loving, that’s the kind of stuff that we want to promote over here.”
Don’t like baseball? Come to a game anyway
Not everyone is a sports fan, but Smorol lists enough reasons why even the biggest baseball belittlers should check out a game at NBT Bank Stadium. The energy is high, entertainment abounds and it’s a relatively inexpensive night out compared to other options around town.
“We specialize in people who don’t like baseball,” said Smorol. “It’s just a great place to hang out and talk and walk around and see different things and have all the shenanigans going on between the innings and seeing kids have fun. That’s what we’re here for.”
And with 75 home games total, there’s still plenty of the season left to “swing” by and “catch” some family fun.
To find out more about the Syracuse Mets and its 2024 schedule, visit https://www.milb.com/syracuse.
