TAMPA — The Yankees have a former Red Sox to thank for their new lefty’s bread-and-butter pitch. Max Fried learned his curveball from his “baseball mentor,” Reggie Smith, when he was a kid ...

Years ago, as a kid in Encino, California, he learned the skill from one of the baseball greats—Reggie Smith! Reggie, a seven-time All-Star and a World Series winner, was more than just a mentor ...

there were two Red Sox players on base. Scott had walked and stolen second. Smith had reached when his foul pop was misjudged by catcher Gerry McNertney and landed, after which Reggie walked.

That would be Reggie Smith, who spent 17 seasons in the majors with the Red Sox, Cardinals, Dodgers and Giants. His Dodgers beat the Yankees in the 1981 Fall Classic, but Smith only played a small ...