Afternoon Baseball

Lee Smith...Original post and complete player list
We dismissed the pretenders and spelled out the contenders. Here, we analyze each with a mix of stats and baseball POV from a dedicated fan.
Lee Smith, RP, Chicago (NL (1980-1987), Boston (1988-1990), St. Louis (1990-1993), New York (AL) (1993), Baltimore (1994), California (1995-1996), Cincinnati (1996), Montreal (1997)
This year: No chance.
Deserving: Maybe, but not before Gossage, Sutter, Rivera and Hoffman.
Will writers think he's deserving?: Nope.
Stay on ballot: Most likely, unless Gossage and Sutter get so many votes that Smith is the loser in that fallout.
Veteran's Committee: By then, enough closers might be in who were more dominant. On the other hand, if he's 4th or 5th on the saves list, maybe never.

Lee Smith is the most prolific closer ever, at least for the moment. Struck out nearly a man per inning, with a 3.03 ERA that was just under a run below the league average. He pitched at least 62 times every year from 1982-1993, with 10 30-save seasons and 3 40-save seasons in a row. Three times he was Rolaids Relief man for the NL, and no one has finished more games in Major League history than Smith.
So why does he get no respect? Possibly because he only was under 3.00 for an ERA 6 times, or because he was 0-2 with an 8.44 in postseason play, playing on the meltdowns that were the 1984 Cubs and 1995 Angels. Possibly because although he was a durable reliever early in his career (1983: 66 games, 29 Sv, 1.65 and 1.074 WHIP in 103 1/3 innings), his big run of saves in the 1990s came when he was almost exclusively a 3-out pitcher.
The Hall has not decided in favor of such pitchers yet, and nor should they. At least not in favor of Smith. Yet.
Why? First off, Gossage remains eligible. As does Sutter.
Second, among the big-number closers, Smith is not the best. Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman and John Wetteland clearly have the edge when you look at some of the numbers.

So, for now, we must wait on Lee Smith. A "no" vote now is merely a delay, until the old-guard closers can get in and/or the Hall can set the standard for the modern closer's entrance.

Labels: HOF