Reliever Lee Smith elected to Hall of Fame, would love to go in with Cubs cap
Lee Smith invoked the names of Billy Williams and Randy Hundley Sunday night after getting word he had been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Today's Game Era Committee.
So it was little wonder which team's cap Smith would like to be depicted in on his Hall of Fame plaque.
"Oh, it's definitely going to have to be a Cubbie, man," Smith said during a nationwide conference call. "There's a lot of great teams that I played for because Smitty's been around, but the Cubs gave me my first chance at the big leagues. And actually, the Cubs gave me a (2016) World Series ring, and that's unbelievable.
"I always have really great ties with people I knew through that Cub organization a and other places, but I still have a great love for the Chicago Cubs. Now, I work for the San Francisco Giants, and I tell you what, a great organization, too. But wherever you start out first always has something in your heart that's always there."
"Big Lee" Smith (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) has been a mainstay at the Cubs annual fan convention in January in recent years, and he spent his first eight of 18 seasons on the North Side, recording 180 of his 478 big-league saves with the Cubs.
He narrowly missed election to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America during his time on the ballot, but he was named on all 16 ballots of the Today's Game Era Committee, made up of Hall of Fame players, major-league executives and veteran media members/historians.
"You know what?" he said. "Right in the middle (of his years on the BBWAA ballot), I started second-guessing myself a little bit. But I always looked at the next year, who was going to be on the ballot. It was tough. I'm a pretty patient fella. I think I waited long enough. I never, never did give up hope.
"When they started with the second-chance vote, I thought my chances would get a little better."
Smith pitched for the Cubs, Red Sox, Cardinals, Yankees, Orioles, Angels, Reds and Expos. His 478 saves were the top mark in baseball from 1993 into the 2006 season and still rank third on the all-time list behind Mariano Rivera's 652 and Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman's 601. Smith was a seven-time all-star who finished in the top 5 of his league's Cy Young Award voting three times. He led his league in saves four times and topped the 30-save mark in 10 seasons.
Smith appeared in 1,022 big-league games, all but 6 as a reliever.
"Randy Hundley was a manager when I was in Double-A," Smith said of the former Cubs catcher. "He wanted to work on this relief-pitching thing. Somewhat then, it was a slap in the face being a relief pitcher because most starters want to go 9 (innings). I think the game started to evolve around the Bruce Sutters and Goose Gossages, and those guys made that game where people wanted to get it to the closer.
"Mr. Billy Williams (Cubs Hall of Famer) came to my home. I can't say what he said to me about doing this relief-pitching thing, but I tried it. Six weeks later, I'm in the big leagues. So I want to thank all those guys, especially Billy, for seeing that."