Still Disappointed about the Lee Smith Hall of Fame Snub

Raymond Bureau | Jan 19, 2013 | Comments 71

Okay, I know that the 2013 Hall of Fame voting occurred on January 9. I also know that no one on the players’ list made it in. However,

Cropped photo of Lee Smith, 1985. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

as a Cub fan, I still cannot believe that Lee Smith has not made it after 11 tries. He got only 272 votes out of 569, good for 47.8%. A player needs 75% (447 votes) for entry. This very heavy scrutiny makes wonder what a player must do to get in.

Lee Smith retired as the all-time saves leader with 478, and he held onto that record for 13 years. He has 84 more saves than Dennis Eckersley, 137 more than Rollie Fingers, 168 more than Goose Gossage, and 178 more than Bruce Sutter. All of these closers are in the Hall of Fame. I take nothing away from those deserving relievers. Fingers, Gossage, and Sutter pitched when closers threw three innings routinely and saves were just coming into vogue. Smith helped define the closer’s role as we see it today. (Note: Eckersley began his career as a starter but was phenomenal as a closer for the second half of his career.)

It cannot be because Lee Smith bounced around so much at the end of his career. Smith pitched for eight teams, six of them in his last five years. Well, Gossage landed on six different rosters in his last seven years and pitched for nine total teams in his career.

Is it because Lee Smith never pitched in the World Series? If so, then that is a terrible excuse. Closers cannot send teams to the World Series if the teams do not give them leads to protect. Granted, he gave up the home run to Steve Garvey in 1984, but he had no other similar chances in his career either. Even Mariano Rivera blew a World Series Game 7 save opportunity in 2001 and a few other postseason saves (but not many). Rivera is a first-ballot inductee in waiting.

Many voters may have snubbed everyone on the 2013 ballot because of the alleged actions of some of the candidates from the so-called PED era. Lee smith had nothing to do with any of it, so what was the reason for not voting for him?

Lee Smith has four more years on the Hall of Fame ballot. The voters need to take a long, hard look at themselves before casting their 2014 ballot. Smith deserves Hall of Fame induction – and not in the same way that Ron Santo had to get in. That’s another story, but at least Santo is now in. Smith, though, deserves the normal 75% vote and more. I really hope and pray that the voters get it right in 2014.

Sources:
Barry Bloom, Biggio Tops Vote but No One Elected to Hall, mlb.mlb.com, January 9, 2013.

Baseball Almanac, Career Leaders for Saves, baseball-almanac.com.

Baseball Almanac, Lee Smith Player Page, baseball-almanac.com

Raymond became a baseball fan at a very young age. He played baseball through high school and soon after became a varsity coach. Raymond previously produced radio sports talk shows and hosted a weekly MLB radio call-in show. His favorite teams are the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees. Follow Raymond on Twitter @RayBureau

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Filed Under: Major League Baseball

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Still Disappointed about the Lee Smith Hall of Fame Snub

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