Birthday Gift From Nate - Lee Smith Signed Baseball

My good friend, Nate, sent me this Lee Smith signed baseball for my birthday.  I really appreciated him sending me something I could cross off of my Hall of Fame checklist.  The bad thing is, I could have sworn that I already had Smith, but apparently, I did not.  I had to search this blog and my baseball collection to confirm.

Smith (b. 1957) played in the majors from 1980 to 1997 for the Cubs, Red Sox, Cardinals, Yankees, Orioles, Angels, Red and Expos.  He had a career record of 71-92 with 1,251 strike outs and a 3.03 ERA.  His 478 saves were the all-time record when he retired, but now they rank third (behind Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman).  He was a 7-time All Star (1983, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995) and finished a career-best 2nd in the 1991 Cy Young Award voting.  His best finish in the MVP voting was 8th, also in 1991.

Smith was elected to the Hall of Fame by the veterans committee for induction in 2019.

Lee Smith is my 146th Hall of Famer.  Thanks for the ball, Nate!