David W. Smith is the founder and president of Retrosheet, a nonprofit that collects, computerizes, and distributes play-by-play data for Major League baseball games. In 2013, he retired from the University of Delaware, where he was a biology professor for 40 years. Before participating in a panel on how drugs have changed baseball, he offered his vote for the most meaningless baseball statistic and the greatest MLB mascot in the Zócalo green room.
What was your worst subject in school?
Poetry? I mean it sounds horribly arrogant, but I didn’t have a lot of bad subjects, which is kind of nice. I had to take a poetry class I didn’t like much. I liked most everything I did.
What’s the most meaningless baseball statistic?
I’ve got two candidates. This is something I actually think about a lot. One is win and loss record for pitchers. The other is RBI for batters. I think they’re both equally meaningless—and quoted all over the place.
Where do you go to be alone?
Down in my basement with all my baseball files, my 17 filing cabinets.
What salad dressing best describes you?
That’s a very interesting question. Blue cheese. It’s a little exotic. I guess I’d like to think I’m a little exotic. I’m probably not.
What’s your favorite Major League Baseball mascot?
The Phillie Phanatic.
What keeps you up at night?
Thinking I’ve got more work to do that I’m not getting done.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Ice cream.
How are you different from who you were 10 years ago?
I was thinking about that a lot when I was getting close to retiring last fall. I’m less patient than I used to be. I’m not sure that’s good, but you said biggest difference.
What music have you listened to today?
I’m not sure I listened to any—we were out at the ballgame, and I was listening to ballpark music, which is some modern pop stuff. That’s the only music I think I heard all day.
If you played baseball, what position would you play?
I did. I was a catcher until I was a junior in college.