Garret Wait
Sports Assistant
For some students, going away to college can be a chance to leave their families behind and become known to the world for only their own achievements. For three students at Pepperdine, college has been an opportunity to embrace their fathers’ athletic legacies and maintain strong childhood friendships.
Rob Picciolo and Steve Smith have both spent a lifetime playing and coaching baseball. Each starred as a Waves player, and each enjoyed a playing career in Major League Baseball.
Now, they both coach third base for major league teams, Picciolo with the San Diego Padres and Smith with the Texas Rangers.
But this isn’t a normal Waves-athletes-who-go-pro situation. The Picciolos and the Smiths are still involved with Pepperdine in major ways. Their children are now students.
Pepperdine hasn’t just been a place where they played baseball in college, or got a higher education. It’s where both men met their wives, sent their kids to school, and where they began a lifelong friendship that has been described as being as strong now as it has ever been.
“It’s really fun to watch them because they’ve known each other for so long,” said junior Bret Picciolo, Rob’s oldest son. “They hang out all the time in the offseason. … The four of them (the Picciolos and the Smiths) are like best friends.”
Dustin Picciolo, the youngest of Rob Picciolo’s children, just started his freshman year at Pepperdine, and Allison Smith, Steve’s freshman daughter, joins him.
Their family legacies are well known, as are their baseball legacies. Rob holds the title of being the highest drafted Pepperdine baseball player ever.
The Oakland Athletics took him with the fourth overall pick in the 1975 amateur draft.
Bret said he enjoys having reminders of his family around.
“I feel like I’m not out doing my own thing, I’m kind of following the family,” Bret said. “It’s nice because when I go into the gym … he’s in a picture in the Firestone Fieldhouse.”
During the 1974 season with the Waves, Rob played infield and hit .247 with 10 doubles and 29 runs batted in. Picciolo was actually drafted twice, once after his junior season at Pepperdine, but he decided to finish out his career at Pepperdine before becoming professional.
“It feels pretty awesome to have my dad be in the Hall of Fame at the school I go to,” Dustin said.
In 1975, Steve Smith batted .320 and led the team in hits, doubles and triples that year. He was named All-West Coast Athletic Conference in both 1975 and 1976.
The San Diego Padres selected him in the 24th round of the amateur draft in 1976.
Both men enjoyed some success in the major leagues before becoming full-time coaches for their respective teams. Picciolo is the longest-tenured coach in Padres history, this being his 14th season with the club.
Not only does Picciolo assist the Padres on the field, he is a major part of the organization’s community outreach programs. He speaks to children about the dangers of drug use in sports every year, and was the Padres’ nomination for the 1999 Branch Rickey award for community service.
The children in these two Pepperdine families haven’t necessarily followed in their fathers’ athletic footsteps (though Bret Picciolo did play one season of baseball for the Waves).
Smith and Picciolo’s friendship has extended into the next generation. Dustin Picciolo and Allison Smith said they became friends because of their fathers’ prodding when they were younger.
Being third base coaches for major league teams means both Picciolo and Smith must be on the road quite a bit, which means they are away from their familes for extended periods of time. However, the benefits for your family are undeniable.
Bret and Dustin said they have never paid for a ticket to a major league baseball game in their lives. Plus, they often come in contact with pro baseball players, something most fans only dream about.
In fact, both Bret and Dustin were on the field for the 1999 home run derby at Fenway Park in Boston.
They also get game-used bats, balls and gloves to decorate their rooms. Not many kids growing up can say they have one of Tony Gwynn’s bats lying around their bedroom — but that’s everyday life for the child of a major league coach.
09-30-2004