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| Photo creds to Mitch Kendra |
It all started because I was bored.
In my almost year-in-a-half at Waynesburg University, I had never gone to a college party. My weekends consisted, and still primarily consist, of staying in my room and watching football, which is all well and good. But I figured it wouldn't kill me to leave my dorm for a change. A few weeks ago on a Saturday, I decided to go out for the evening. I showed up, had fun, and eventually, revealed my skill of baseball knowledge. You might have seen the video by now, but in case not, here you go. Long story short, I went viral.
Now that well over a million people knew about my talent, which involves memorizing details of all
113 World Series, I thought a lot about my love for sports history and the possible opportunities that could open up because of it. A few days later, when everything was starting to die down a bit, I began to think about why I have that skill.
In many of the comments on my video, which appeared on multiple social media platforms, the word "Rainman" showed up. "Rainman," who most people know as Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie of the same name, had an exceptional memory but was also diagnosed with autism. When I was asked in an interview for my school paper by my friend and Executive Editor, Mattie Winowitch, if I had a similar condition that enhanced my knowledge but hindered my social life, I was initially hesitant.
I've never been too open about Asperger's syndrome. It's not because I'm embarrassed about the condition, which I was diagnosed with early in my life, and it isn't as if I would ever deny having it if asked about it. The reason I try not to say a whole lot about having Asperger's is that I don't want to go out of my way to make it a big deal. That's not to say that people who thrive in spite of disabilities shouldn't be proud of that. Personally, though, I've never wanted to be looked at as any different, for better or worse, because of my condition.
Asperger's syndrome brings plenty of challenges. It's a developmental disorder that is similar to autism, which leads to social awkwardness among other things. Perhaps the best significant way to illustrate the additional challenges that I face because of Asperger's is that I'm 19 years and still don't know how to tie my shoes. But there's also another aspect of Asperger's that isn't only a positive but is the basis of what I want to do with my career.
One of the side effects of Asperger's is that people who have the condition have an abnormal memory. In other words, if I were "normal," I probably wouldn't be able to rattle off World Series facts without taking a breath, and hence, wouldn't have gotten recognized by Barstool Sports.
Without that asset, I wouldn't know all I know about sports, and the first thing that a lot of people think about when they think of Joe Smeltzer might be something entirely different.
Even in middle school and early high school, which was at times a pretty dark period of my life, whenever I felt out of place because of my awkwardness, I knew that I had my memory, and I knew that spitting off baseball and other sports facts without taking a breath could impress anybody who asked. But I wasn't sure I was comfortable with my condition being public knowledge. I had only talked in-depth about my battle with Asperger's twice, and those were for school assignments. So after I was asked that question in the interview I hesitated briefly.
After thinking for a few seconds, I understood, as a journalist, that Asperger's would be something people would want to know about and would add a lot to my story. So I opened up about it, and I'm glad I did.
I don't want people to make too much about my condition. But if they see me as a "baseball savant," then it's fair for them to understand why I have that label. As I'm writing this, I've also considered that others with Asperger's who suffer from the downside that I've mentioned might look to me for inspiration, and that is not a bad thing. If anybody wants to view me as a role model, then I would do what I can to be of help.
Having such an interest in the history of baseball is beneficial in a lot of ways, but everything has its detriments. For example, answering the same questions over and over again, sometimes on the same
day, gets repetitive. However, the worst thing about it is that because I know details about the 1921 World Series between the New York Giants and New York Yankees, people assume that knowledge translates into the classroom. So many times, I've had to answer these types of questions;
"Man, it's crazy that you know all that. What was your GPA in high school?"
"Uh, 3.1."
"Oh, ok."
Because I'm knowledgeable when it comes to sports, people can make unfair assumptions that it translates to other areas. I wish that were true; I might be at Harvard right now. But that's not the case, and letting people know that can make me a little uncomfortable.
I think that my battle with Asperger's syndrome is an example of how there are always positives out there. Maybe I'd know how to tie my shoes if I didn't have Asperger's. But I also wouldn't be able to talk for five minutes about the 1929 Philadelphia Athletics. Yes, having a disability is challenging. But I'm not going to let it stop me from fulfilling my dream covering my passion, which is sports.
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