Lee Arthur Smith (born December 4, 1957) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 18 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eight teams. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest relief pitchers of all time.
Smith was born in Jamestown, Louisiana, and raised in Castor. He attended Northwestern State University of Louisiana, where he played college baseball for the Northwestern State Demons. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the second round of the 1975 MLB draft.
Smith made his MLB debut with the Cubs in 1980. He quickly established himself as one of the most dominant relievers in the game, leading the National League in saves in 1983 and 1984. He was a seven-time All-Star and a three-time Rolaids Relief Man Award winner. He was nicknamed “Big Lee” and “The Terminator” for his powerful fastball and his ability to strike out batters. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2019 by the Today’s Game Era Committee after 15 years on the ballot.
Smith was known for his blazing fastball and his devastating slider. He was also a fierce competitor who was not afraid to challenge hitters. He was a key member of the Cubs' 1984 National League East championship team and the Boston Red Sox' 1986 World Series championship team. Smith retired from baseball in 1997 with 478 saves, which was the second-highest total in MLB history at the time. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Smith is considered to be one of the pioneers of the modern closer. He was one of the first relievers to be used exclusively in save situations, and he helped to establish the role as one of the most important in baseball. Smith is a member of the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame and the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame pitcher Lee Smith didn't play baseball until he was a junior in high school. He tried out to win a $10 bet and only started pitching after his team's star pitcher was killed in a hunting accident. His first start was a no-hitter.
"I said, 'No way am I ever going to play baseball!' Basketball was my game," the Louisiana native said. It was Smith's older brother, Willie, who got him to play baseball by betting Lee $10 that he couldn't make the team as a catcher.
"So, naturally, I won the bet and was the catcher for the first half of the season," Smitty said.
Then the team's star pitcher was shot and killed in a hunting accident, and Daniels asked Smith to step in and pitch. The kid who didn't want to play baseball pitched a no-hitter his first time out. Relying mostly on a blistering fastball, Smith went 8-0 with a 0.14 ERA during his time on the mound as a junior for the Castor Tigers. After a bit of prompting from Daniels, Lee Arthur came back to the mound his senior year and went 7-1 with a 0.95 ERA, while striking out 124 batters in 53 innings of work. For his efforts, Smith was named Louisiana's Outstanding Class B baseball player in 1975.
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