Baseball history
Janet Marie Smith honored by Baseball Reliquary
Executive VP receives “Shrine of the Eternals” award
by Mark Langill
Janet Marie Smith, Dodger Executive Vice President of Planning and Development, was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary ‘“Shrine of the Eternals” during a ceremony on Sunday at Whittier College.
Also honored in the organization’s Class of 2026 were Dodger Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella and former Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley.
Legend of Dodger Baseball Reggie Smith presented the award to Joni Campanella Roan, Campanella’s daughter.
Roy Campanella, a three-time National League MVP who was paralyzed in a 1958 automobile accident, passed away at age 71 in 1993.
Get Mark Langill’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Former Dodger executive Dr. Charles Steinberg, currently the president of the Worcester Red Sox and a colleague of Smith during their respective tenures at the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox, introduced Smith.
Steinberg gave insight to Smith’s innovation in her work on Orioles Park at Camden Yards, which created a paradigm shift of ballpark design, and the renovation of Fenway Park when the nearly 100-year-old facility was facing a potential teardown.
Smith joined the Dodgers in 2012, and her renovations at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium included a “front door” to a new Centerfield Plaza, along with statues honoring Dodger Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax.
Smith in 2026 also received the Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achivement Award from the Society of Baseball Research (SABR).
“One of the things I’ve enjoyed working for the Dodgers is that institutions don’t really have memories, but this one does,” Smith said. “And I think it’s not just about baseball, it’s about America. It’s about the cultural evolution of America. The Dodgers have ‘firsts’ that range from Jackie Robinson to Sandy Koufax, Fernando Valenzuela and Hideo Nomo.”
Author Phil Dixon received the Tony Salin Award for his research and oral histories of the Negro Leagues. In his acceptance speech, Dixon thanked Smith for being a childhood inspiration. As a rookie with the 1967 Red Sox, Smith spoke to Dixon’s youth baseball team in Los Angeles and was awestruck months later when Smith was playing in the World Series.
Dodger broadcaster Charley Steiner and author Jane Leavy delivered the keynote address during a conversation covering baseball’s past and present. They recalled their own childhood links to baseball; Steiner rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers while Leavy chose the New York Yankees.
Jade Van Kley, a baseball content creator on Instagram, received the Reliquary’s “Hilda Award,” named after longtime Brooklyn Dodger fan and Ebbets Field fixture Hilda Chester.
The Reliquary also paid tribute to the memory of Fred Claire, a 30-year member of the Dodger front office and a longtime patron of the fan-based organization who passed away on his 91st birthday on Oct. 5.
