Lee Smith - Getty Images
Would you vote Lee Smith into the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Next on the ballot is Aaron Sele, who was a perfectly decent starting pitcher, has a 148-112 record with a 4.61 ERA in 15 seasons in the majors. He pitched in 2 All-Star games and finished 3rd in the Rookie of the Year voting, back in 1993. But not a Hall of Fame type.
Lee Smith was one of the best closers of all-time. He has 478 saves, 3rd on the career list. No matter what you think of saves, that's a good number. And he was a closer back before the closer just pitched one inning. He would pitch 2 or 3 innings, at least early in his career, if it was needed.
He was an intimidating guy out on the mound. 6'5" and 220, maybe not as scary looking as Jon Rauch but a great pitcher. He played on 7 All-Star teams, won 3 reliever of the year awards and came in second in the 1991 Cy Young voting.
Right now there are only 5 relief pitchers in the Hall: Goose Gossage, Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Bruce Sutter and Dennis Eckersley. Smith might not be quite as good as those 5 but he's close.
This is Lee's 11th time on the ballot, he was on 50.6% of the Writers' ballots last year, so he's got a little ways to get to get to the magic 75% before his name leaves the ballot after his 15 chance.
Poll
Would you vote Lee Smith into the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Yes (43 votes)
No (30 votes)
73 total votes


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