“Starting pitchers use 300 wins as a measuring stick for the Hall of Fame,” Cardinals manager Joe Torre said. “For him to get 300 saves means he’s been a part of 300 victories. You might just put that in the same category. He’s right up there.”[1]

The 6-foot-6, 250-pound Smith took an unlikely path to 300 saves and the Baseball Hall of Fame. Born in northern Louisiana, Smith’s favorite sport was basketball and he didn’t play baseball until his junior season. Nonetheless, his strong right arm stood out, and no less an authority than Negro Leagues legend Buck O’Neil scouted him. Upon O’Neil’s recommendation, the Chicago Cubs selected him in the second round of the 1975 draft.

Smith made his major-league debut as a 22-year-old in 1980 and soon emerged as the heir apparent to Sutter in Chicago. In 1983, he posted a 1.65 ERA and led the league with 29 saves. He saved at least 31 games in each of the next four seasons. After he saved 36 games and was named an all-star for the second time in his career in 1987, the Cubs traded him to the Boston Red Sox for Al Nipper and Calvin Schiraldi.

Smith pitched two-plus seasons in Boston, saving 60 games before he was traded to the Cardinals on May 4, 1990, for Tom Brunansky. By the time he arrived in St. Louis, he already had saved at least 25 games for eight consecutive seasons.

“He’s been durable for a guy who throws as hard as he does,” Torre said. “What has helped Lee is the fact that he pitched in places like Chicago and Boston. He’s had to learn to pitch, not just be a thrower.”[2]

Smith agreed.

“Pitching in Chicago is the best thing that ever happened to me, especially someone my height,” Smith said. “I had to learn to keep the ball down. In Wrigley Field, you’ve got to make good pitches even when the count is 0-and-2.”[3]

In St. Louis, Smith picked up saves faster than ever. After saving 27 games for the Cardinals in 1990, Smith entered 1991 with 265 career saves. By late August, he found himself on the cusp of 300. With saves in six consecutive appearances, including a scoreless ninth inning to cap off a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 23, Smith entered the series finale against the Dodgers on August 25 with a 2.47 ERA.

“The other guys (in the bullpen) are the unsung heroes,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t be having the year I’m having if it weren’t for guys like Scottie (Scott Terry). Everywhere else I’ve been, I’ve had to come in and pitch 2 to 2 1/3 innings, but here, I know I’m just going to be used for one inning or one situation most of the time. That’s because Joe has the confidence to use the other guys. They’ve been tremendous.”[4]

Torre used the same formula ahead of Smith’s 300^th career save.

The Cardinals and Dodgers exchanged runs in the first inning as L.A.’s Darryl Strawberry grounded out to score Brett Butler and St. Louis’s Todd Zeile hit an RBI double to tie the game.

The Cardinals took the lead in the third inning after rookie starting pitcher Rheal Cormier and Ozzie Smith each singled. Zeile scored Cormier on an infield single to give St. Louis the 2-1 lead.

Cormier pitched into the sixth inning. After retiring the first two batters of the frame, Strawberry hit a line drive that struck Cormier on his left arm. Cormier left the game immediately (though x-rays after the game were negative[5]), and Torre turned to Willie Fraser to face the switch-hitting Eddie Murray. Murray grounded out to end the inning.

“I thought it was broken,” Cormier said. “It felt like it was real bad. I knew I had to come out.”[6]

Zeile led off the bottom of the sixth with his second ground-rule double of the game. After Dodgers starting pitcher Tim Belcher intentionally walked Milt Thompson to get to Rex Hudler, the “Wonder Dog” made him pay, hitting a line drive to right field to score Zeile.  Catcher Tom Pagnozzi followed with a sacrifice bunt that scored Thompson and extended the lead to 4-1.

Butler hit an RBI single in the seventh to score the Dodgers’ second run of the game, but Ozzie Smith answered with an RBI that gave the Cardinals a 5-2 lead.

The Dodgers threatened in the eighth as Mitch Webster and Strawberry each singled against Cardinals reliever Bob McClure. McClure got Murray to bounce into a 5-4-3 double play, but after he walked Gary Carter, Torre called upon Cris Carpenter. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda countered with pinch-hitter Kal Daniels, who grounded out to end the inning.

With a 5-2 lead heading into the ninth inning, it was Lee Smith’s opportunity to make history. He opened the inning by retiring Lenny Harris on a ground ball, then got pinch-hitter Stan Javier to fly out to shallow left field.

With two outs, however, Brett Butler and pinch-hitter Mike Scioscia each singled. With Webster at the plate representing the tying run, Lee Smith induced an infield fly that he caught himself for the 300^th save of his career.

“It’s another save,” he said. “I don’t worry too much about those things right now. After the season I might look at the statistics, but right now I don’t look at it too much. The important thing is we won.”[7]

Cormier earned the second win of his career, allowing one run over 5 2/3 innings. He also went 2-for-2 at the plate.

“He did a helluva job,” Torre said. “He throws strikes. He’s not afraid to come inside and challenge people. He keeps that guy close at first. He’s a little bulldog.”[8]

Zeile and Ozzie Smith each finished with three hits and Hudler added two.

Lee Smith’s outstanding season proved to be arguably the best of his 18-year major-league career. After leading all of baseball with a career-high 47 saves, he placed second to Tom Glavine in the Cy Young Award balloting and was eighth in the National League MVP vote.

In 1992, Lee Smith saved 43 games with a 3.12 ERA. Once again, he was named an all-star and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting. On April 13, 1993, he became baseball’s career saves leader, passing Jeff Reardon with his 358^th save. Smith saved 43 games with a 4.50 ERA that season before the Cardinals traded him to the Yankees on August 31 for Rich Batchelor.

In four seasons in St. Louis, Lee Smith saved 160 games with a 2.90 ERA. He retired in 1997 with 478 saves and remained baseball’s saves king until Trevor Hoffman passed his career total in 2006.

Lee Smith was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018 by the Today’s Game Committee.

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[1] Dan O’Neill, “Smith Hits Milestone: 300 Saves,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 26, 1991.

[2] Dan O’Neill, “Smith Hits Milestone: 300 Saves,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 26, 1991.

[3] Dan O’Neill, “Smith Hits Milestone: 300 Saves,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 26, 1991.

[4] Dan O’Neill, “Cards Win Quietly 2-1,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 24, 1991.

[5] Dan O’Neill, “Team Torre ‘Tees Off’ On LA,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 26, 1991.

[6] Dan O’Neill, “Cards’ Cormier Gets A Break – Bone Not Fractured,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 26, 1991.

[7] Dan O’Neill, “Smith Hits Milestone: 300 Saves,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 26, 1991.

[8] Dan O’Neill, “Team Torre ‘Tees Off’ On LA,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 26, 1991.

The post August 25, 1991: Lee Smith earns his 300th save first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“It feels good to get it out of the way, but I’m not in the game to set records,” Smith said. “I want to pitch in the World Series, and I’d be happy with 20 saves if it helped us get there.”[1]

Acquired three years earlier in a trade with the Red Sox, Smith rapidly piled up saves while wearing the birds on the bat. Though Smith no longer had the same zip on his fastball that he had early in his career, his slider and forkball kept hitters off balance.

After arriving in St. Louis in May 1990, he saved 27 games the remainder of the year, posting three wins and a 2.10 ERA in 53 games.

The following two years, he enjoyed arguably the two greatest seasons in his Hall of Fame career, leading the National League with a career-high 47 saves in 1991. With a 2.34 ERA, Smith placed second to Atlanta’s Tom Glavine in the Cy Young Award voting. In the MVP vote (won by former Cardinal Terry Pendleton), he placed eighth, three spots ahead of Glavine.

In 1992, Smith again led the league in saves, this time posting 43 along with a 3.12 ERA. He placed fourth in the Cy Young voting and earned his second consecutive all-star appearance.

Smith credited Cardinals manager Joe Torre for his success in St. Louis.

“I really owe a lot to Joe,” he said. “I only have to pitch an inning at a time here, and that’s been the key. I often worked two innings at a time with the Cubs and Red Sox, and that took a lot out of me. I still have confidence that I can get hitters out with my fastball, but I’m not that much into the macho thing that I have to blow guys away. I’m more of a pitcher than I was in Chicago.”[2]

Smith entered the 1993 season with 355 career saves, two behind Cincinnati’s Jeff Reardon. The 37-year-old Reardon, whose acquisition by the Red Sox in 1990 suddenly made Smith expendable in Boston, had made two scoreless appearances for the Reds that season but had yet to earn his first save.

Smith, who had suffered a blown save against Reardon’s Reds just three days earlier, wasn’t about to let his next opportunity pass him by.

The Cardinals opened the game by building a 5-0 lead against Dodgers starter Kevin Gross. With two outs in the first, Mark Whiten and Tom Pagnozzi each hit RBI singles and Bernard Gilkey drove in a pair of runs with a single to right field. An inning later, Gregg Jefferies added an RBI single to right.

The Dodgers, however, took the lead by scoring seven unanswered runs, including five off of Cardinals starter Rheal Cormier. Tim Wallach hit a two-run double and Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Brett Butler, and Eric Davis each added RBI singles as the Dodgers chipped away at the St. Louis lead to take a 7-5 lead heading into the seventh inning.

In the top of the seventh, Zeile singled and Gilkey drew a walk before pinch-hitter Gerald Perry proved to be better late than never – literally. Perry had thought that the game, the Dodgers’ home opener, was a night game. He was enjoying room service and a TV movie when Cardinals equipment manager Buddy Bates called to ask where he was. Perry made it to the stadium about 45 minutes before the game.[3]

Facing Dodgers reliever Pedro Martinez, however, he was right on time. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, the left-handed-swinging Perry pulled the ball just inside the right-field foul pole for a three-run home run that gave the Cardinals an 8-7 lead.

“I told the guys that when you show up late and you get a chance to play, you’d better do something,” Perry said. “I was very embarrassed walking in here. I’ve never looked at guys real great when they came into the clubhouse late.”[4]

Darryl Strawberry nearly robbed Perry of the home run, but a fan with a glove made the catch instead. An inning later, the fan was escorted away by stadium personnel.[5]

“I would have had it,” Strawberry said. “I had it all the way. He just took it away.”[6]

In the top of the ninth, Pagnozzi added a solo home run to right field off Ricky Trlicek to give Smith a 9-7 lead to hold. Despite the two-run advantage, the final three outs weren’t uneventful. After Smith retired Jody Reed to lead off the inning, Davis reached on Zeile’s second error of the day at third base.

Smith got Darryl Strawberry to fly out to left field for the second out, but Karros drew a walk and both runners advanced on stolen bases. With the tying run in scoring position, Wallach flied out to shallow right field, ending the game and placing Smith atop the career saves leaderboard.

“Three hundred and 58 saves,” Pagnozzi marveled. “I don’t think I have 358 hits.”[7]

The save also gave Smith 300 career saves in the National League, tying the record set by former Cardinals closer Bruce Sutter.

“He may have been lost in the shuffle over the years,” Cardinals manager Joe Torre said, noting that other closers such as Sutter, Dennis Eckersley, and Reardon had attracted national attention while Smith simply piled up saves. “Really, nobody paid attention to Big Lee. They wrote him off a long time ago. Last year, people got on him because he lost a couple of saves early, but he never made an excuse. This year, he’s thrown the ball better than he has the last two years.”[8]

Smith earned the save in each of his next seven appearances, placing him ahead of Reardon for good. He ranked among the National League leaders with 43 saves when the Cardinals traded him to the Yankees for Rich Batchelor on August 31.

Smith signed a free-agent deal with the Orioles that offseason. In his lone season in Baltimore, he led baseball in saves and placed fifth in the Cy Young voting.

After pitching for the Angels, Reds, and Expos over the final three years of his career, Smith retired with 478 saves, a record that was not broken until Trevor Hoffman passed him in 2006. Smith was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.

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[1] Ross Newhan, “With Help From Dodgers, Smith Is Baseball’s Save Leader,” Los Angeles Times, April 14, 1993.

[2] Ross Newhan, “With Help From Dodgers, Smith Is Baseball’s Save Leader,” Los Angeles Times, April 14, 1993.

[3] Rick Hummel, “After Perry HR, Cards Save It For Lee Smith,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 14, 1993.

[4] Rick Hummel, “After Perry HR, Cards Save It For Lee Smith,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 14, 1993.

[5] Rick Hummel, “After Perry HR, Cards Save It For Lee Smith,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 14, 1993.

[6] Rick Hummel, “After Perry HR, Cards Save It For Lee Smith,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 14, 1993.

[7] Rick Hummel, “L. Smith Survives Shaky 9^th,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 14, 1993.

[8] Rick Hummel, “L. Smith Survives Shaky 9^th,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 14, 1993.

The post Lee Smith becomes baseball’s career saves leader: April 13, 1993 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Cardinals general manager Dal Maxvill declined the trade proposal in early April, hopeful that his club could re-sign Brunansky and keep in him an outfield that included Vince Coleman, Willie McGee, and Milt Thompson, and had highly regarded prospect Ray Lankford waiting in Triple-A.

The issue, however, was Brunansky’s desire for a limited no-trade clause similar to the one included in his current deal, which he had signed with the Twins. The Cardinals had a team policy against no-trade clauses.

On April 5, Bernie Miklasz wrote in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Brunansky could be traded for Smith.

“Who’s the most likely guy to leave here?” Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog asked. “Bruno. He wants a smaller park to hit in, he knows the Cowboy (California Angels owner Gene Autry) wants him. He’s from California. He knows he can get $2.5 million a year from the Cowboy.”[1]

Herzog made clear that if Brunansky was traded, it wasn’t because his manager didn’t appreciate him.

“I like Bruno. He’s a dream to manage,” Herzog said. “You can’t find a better son of a gun. I’d like to keep him, but I’m just talking facts here.”[2]

At the time, Brunansky said he hadn’t heard anything from his agent regarding a deal, nor had the Red Sox reached out to him.

“I’m sure before they’d go for a trade like that, the Red Sox would at least want to talk to me,” he said. “They know I’m in my final year, and I’m sure they’d like to lock me up in a new contract instead of seeing me walk away.”[3]

By early May, with negotiations between Brunansky and the Cardinals at an impasse, Maxvill called Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman. It didn’t take long to finalize the exchange of pending free agents. On May 4, 1990, they made the deal official.

“We tried to work around this somehow, but it just couldn’t be done,” Maxvill said.^[4]

Brunansky said he had met with both Maxvill and Herzog and encouraged them to make a trade that would help the team.

“The no-trade was the whole thing,” Brunansky said. “We never got to the point of talking any money. For me to stay here, I would need some kind of security. I wasn’t going to sign here for three years, buy a house and everything, and keep hearing trade rumors.”[5]

Brunansky had come to St. Louis in an April 1988 trade with the Twins for Tom Herr. He hit 22 homers and drove in 79 runs for the Cardinals that season to lead the team in both categories. In 1989, Brunansky led the club with 20 homers, and his 85 RBIs ranked second on the team to Pedro Guerrero.

Through the first 19 games of the 1990 season, however, he was batting just .158 with more walks (12) than hits (9) and was splitting time with Thompson in right field.

“I know it was hard on Bruno and me both,” Thompson said of the Cardinals’ crowded outfield situation. “You find yourself pressuring a lot when you get the opportunity. The key now is to go out there and relax and just play ball.”[6]

Just as the Twins had found it difficult to part with the well-liked Brunansky two years earlier, the Cardinals were disappointed to see the popular outfielder leaving.

“From my perspective, I don’t know Lee Smith, and certainly he’s been a great pitcher and he’s going to help us,” Cardinals pitcher Ricky Horton said. “There’s no doubt about that, but from a personal standpoint, we’re losing a great guy. Bruno is just a great guy to have around the clubhouse. He’s a big leaguer, and I’m going to miss him.”[7]

The Red Sox, of course, were excited to add Brunansky’s bat to their lineup. They chose the Cardinals’ trade offer over a package from the Braves that included pitcher Tommy Greene and third baseman Jim Presley.[8]

“A power hitter was our secondary need, but a big need,” said Red Sox president John Harrington. “We would have preferred a starting pitcher, but Tom Brunansky is no second fiddle by any means.”[9]

In trading the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Brunansky, the Cardinals added another big man in Smith, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound closer who emerged in the Cubs’ bullpen after they traded Bruce Sutter to the Cardinals in 1980. In eight seasons, Smith saved 180 games for the Cubs, including a league-leading 29 in 1983.

After the 1987 season, the Cubs traded Smith to the Red Sox for Al Nipper and Calvin Schiraldi. In two-plus seasons in Boston, Smith saved 58 games. During the previous offseason, however, the Red Sox signed Jeff Reardon, making the big right-hander expendable. Like Brunansky, Smith was due to become a free agent after the season.

“This makes us pretty strong,” Herzog said, noting that three members of the Cardinals’ bullpen – Smith, Scott Terry, and Tom Niedenfuer – had experience closing.[10]

For his part, Smith was glad to come to a situation where – despite the experience of Terry and Niedenfuer – he was the clear-cut closer.

“I’m really pleased,” Smith said. “Something had to be done here. With the two closers we had, it wasn’t fair to either one of us. Over the winter, they were talking about how they could use both of us. Jeff would pitch one day and I’d pitch the next, but it seemed like every time I pitched this season, Jeff pitched the same day. I said going into spring training that I didn’t think it would work.”[11]

It certainly worked in St. Louis. Smith saved 27 games for the Cardinals in 1990, posting a 2.10 ERA in 68 2/3 innings.

The 1991 season was arguably the best of Smith’s 18-year career, as he led the league with 47 saves. In addition to making his third All-Star Game appearance, he placed second in the Cy Young Award voting behind Tom Glavine and placed eighth in the MVP vote.

In 1992, Smith saved 43 games with a 3.12 ERA. Once again, he was named an All-Star and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting. In 1993, Smith saved 43 games with a 4.50 ERA before the Cardinals traded him to the Yankees on August 31 for Rich Batchelor.

In four seasons, Smith saved 160 games for the Cardinals with a 2.90 ERA. He retired in 1997 with 478 saves. Beginning in 2003, Smith spent 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot, reaching a high of 50.6% of the vote in 2012 but never reaching the 75% threshold required for induction. In 2018, all 16 members of the Today’s Game Committee voted Smith into the Hall of Fame alongside Harold Baines.

Meanwhile, Brunansky turned his 1990 season around with Boston, batting .267 with 15 homers and 71 RBIs for the Red Sox. After the season, he re-signed with Boston and played the next two seasons there before signing with Milwaukee in 1993. In 1994, the Brewers traded Brunansky back to the Red Sox for Dave Valle.

He retired after the 1994 season with 271 homers and 919 RBIs in a 14-year major-league career.

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[1] Bernie Miklasz, “‘Bruno’ Could Go If Pen Needs Help,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 5, 1990.

[2] Bernie Miklasz, “‘Bruno’ Could Go If Pen Needs Help,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 5, 1990.

[3] Bernie Miklasz, “‘Bruno’ Could Go If Pen Needs Help,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 5, 1990.

[4] Rick Hummel, “Cards Acquire Lee Smith,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 5, 1990.

[5] Rick Hummel, “Cards Acquire Lee Smith,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 5, 1990.

[6] Dan O’Neill, “Cards Sad Brunansky Had To Go,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 5, 1990.

[7] Dan O’Neill, “Cards Sad Brunansky Had To Go,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 5, 1990.

[8] Nick Cafardo, “Sox trade Smith for Brunansky,” Boston Globe, May 5, 1990.

[9] Nick Cafardo, “Sox trade Smith for Brunansky,” Boston Globe, May 5, 1990.

[10] Rick Hummel, “Cards Acquire Lee Smith,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 5, 1990.

[11] Rick Hummel, “Cards Acquire Lee Smith,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 5, 1990.

The post Cardinals trade Tom Brunansky for Lee Smith: May 4, 1990 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.