How ‘silent assassin’ Will Smith turned into Dodgers World Series hero

A block from the Hollywood Walk of Fame Wednesday morning, a once-overlooked Dodgers star embraced his newfound notoriety.

Four days after hitting the game-winning home run in Game 7 of the World Series, Will Smith was serenaded by hundreds of fans at a Raising Cane promotional event at the intersection of Sunset and Highland, taking over a makeshift stage to chants of “We want Will!” from a crowd of Dodgers faithful eternally indebted to his championship-clinching swing.

“To feel the love from all the fans, it’s just cool,” Smith said. “It’s fun to celebrate with these people, to see what the Dodgers mean to them.”

For years, Smith largely felt that love in the shadows of the Dodgers’ all-star roster — a three-time All-Star, a generational talent at his position, but also an overshadowed member of the team’s core of big names.

That officially changed this week, after he hit the first game-winning home run in overtime in Game 7 of a Fall Classic.

His name has now joined the realm of October legends. His place in Dodger history, elevated to virtually immortal status.

“It’s crazy,” Smith said when informed Wednesday of the story about his 11th-inning swing. “I never thought that [would happen]. But yeah, I’m just happy to have been able to do it for the guys and for the city… The passion of these fans is what motivates me the most.

This kind of response of course illustrates Smith’s default mode. Quiet and reserved by nature. Away from the public spotlight. Happy to just show up at the ballpark, deal with his grueling job as the starting catcher for the best team in baseball, and avoid the attention a player of his talent would typically attract.

Dodgers fans are waiting to see catcher Will Smith at a Raising Cane promotional event on Wednesday.

(Carlin Stiehl / For Time)

This had been the reality of Smith’s existence with these Dodgers. Sharing a clubhouse with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Clayton Kershaw, it was easy for him to blend into the background for much of his seven-year career.

But then, last Saturday night, Shane Bieber hooked a slider on him in a tie game with a World Series on the line. Smith threw a thunderous hit at it, begging for the ball to clear the fence. And once he did, his position in the sport was instantly changed. The Dodgers have cemented a dynasty. He was the face of one of its most notable moments.

“Yes and no,” Smith said when asked if his life had changed this week. “It’s a moment that will always be special. A very positive memory. In the first couple [World Series]had big hits and all that. But the winner of the game is cool. So I hope that next year, going for a treble, we will do something similar.

Of course, nothing will be as transformative as last week for the 30-year-old safety net.

Without the heroic efforts of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Smith very easily could have won the World Series MVP, having led the Dodgers with six RBIs, trailing only Ohtani with a .267 average, and catching all 74 innings of the marathon series in another Fall Classic record.

He wasn’t persuaded to speak in the team’s championship parade, but still received some of the loudest ovations of the day, with fans recognizing the herculean contributions he made both at and behind the plate.

“He was a silent assassin,” Freeman said.

“He’s an absolute animal,” third baseman Max Muncy echoed.

Smith showed off some of his dry humor during an appearance Tuesday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” delivering a few laugh lines alongside manager Dave Roberts and a few other teammates.

Then, Wednesday morning, he received a hero’s welcome at Raising Cane’s event, with fans lining up along Sunset two hours before his appearance with signs and posters at the ready.

“It’s like a dream,” Smith said.

The one he won’t wake up from anytime soon.

Moving forward, Smith appears to be central to the team’s future success, having signed a 10-year, $140 million contract extension with the Dodgers in March 2024.

“It’s pretty much our home now for us,” said the Louisville native and father of two. “We love it here.”

From left, Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández, Dodgers and Lakers owner and chairman Mark Walter, former Lakers star and Dodgers co-owner Magic Johnson, pitcher Tyler Glasnow, catcher Will Smith, pitcher Blake Snell, shortstop Mookie Betts, outfielder Alex Call and pitcher Evan Phillips are celebrated for their World Series championship at the Lakers game Wednesday night.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

As one of the youngest members of the club’s All-Star core, his importance on the roster will also continue to grow, with Smith trying to build off a 2025 campaign in which he set full-season career highs in batting average (.296) and OPS (.901) despite missing most of September, and the first week of the playoffs, with a broken hand.

“To me, he kind of embodies a lot of the success we’ve had looking back, in terms of our scouting process, our player development process, how they work together, and then his time and the impact he’s had at the Major League level,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said of Smith, who was originally a first-round draft pick of the team in 2016.

“Make no mistake, there’s going to be a lot of those moments for him,” Muncy added. “He’s going to be here for a long time. I can’t wait to see what he does for this organization.”

And think how disastrously different this week might have been without the other key play Smith made in Game 7, putting his toe back on home plate after it came loose while going to catch a pitch from Miguel Rojas with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning.

“I still don’t like seeing it,” Smith joked as video of the moment re-aired on Kimmel. “They were replaying it [in the stadium]and I was like, ‘Oh shit, that’s not good.’ We’re going to lose here because I can’t hold home plate with my foot.

“That,” Smith added as Kimmel pondered the alternate reality, “would have stung.”

Instead, two innings later, Smith delivered a swing that would change his legacy forever – propelling him to a pedestal that was both long overdue and long justified.

“For my part, I’ve always tried not to overdo it,” he said. “I happened to send him flying into the air and over the wall.”

Another modest response, from a player unlikely to be overlooked again.