All I've Got of Him: Lee Smith

Sunday night is was announced that Lee Smith was elected to the Hall of Fame.  During his 15 years on the regular ballot he never topped 50% of the votes from the sportswriters. But in his first time on the Today's Era ballot, he got the vote from each committee member, 100%.

Big Lee spent the first eight years of his career with the Cubs.  He posted 180 saves during that span.  GM Jim Frey foolishly  traded him to the Red Sox after the 1987 season.  Smith then spent the next ten years with seven different clubs.  By the time he retired in 1997, he was the career leader in saves.  He's since been passed by Mariano Riveria and Trevor Hoffman.

Smith will most likely go into the hall as a Cub.  That is his preference from what I've read.  I wonder if the Cubs will retire his number?  They've done it with all of the other modern HOFers.

My collection includes 65 different cards of Lee Smith, including two autographs.

Take a look...