Lee Arthur Smith gets his day in Cooperstown

Newly elected Hall of Famer Lee Smith recorded his final five major league saves for the Montreal Expos in 1997.

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

"Lee Smith? Don't know him,'' Tarena Bass said into the phone.

"You're sure you don't know Lee Smith, the baseball pitcher?'' I asked.

"Oh, you mean Lee Arthur. I just knew him by Lee Arthur, not Lee,'' Bass said.

That conversation took place in the late 1990s when I heard that Bass was a friend of Smith. I tracked her down in Arizona for comments for a book of mine called Baseball in the 20th Century that was published in 2000.

Tarena Bass was Tarena Williams when she grew up with Smith in Castor, Louisiana, a town located 50 miles southeast of the Arkansas border. She was white, he was black.

"He was very handsome but it (dating him) was a definite no,'' Williams said.

Williams pulled out a 1978 yearbook from Castor high school and pointed out a few things on the phone about Smith, who played his last major-league game with the Expos in 1997.

"There were 10 blacks and 17 whites in the class that year. He was the class favourite, the wittiest, the most athletic,'' Bass said. "He sang in the choir. He was a real, sweet kid. The whole school was behind him. He was very friendly with a great smile. He's a fond memory of my high school days.

"He never used foul language. He was never out of line. He was like a brother. Tall and lanky. The story went around that he could throw a baseball so fast and so hard that he could make it stick in a tree.''

Remember, I was writing this chapter for a book at a time when Smith was the major-league leader in saves with 478. I envisioned him as being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame one day. How much did I think of Smith way back then? Consider this: I devoted 10 pages to him in my book.

It took all these years later and two different Hall of Fame ballots for Lee Arthur Smith to finally get elected into Cooperstown. He spent 15 years on the regular ballot handled by the Baseball Writers Association of America without getting elected and then bingo, he received unanimous support -- all 16 ballots -- this past Dec. 9 from the Today's Game Era committee.

Smith will go into Cooperstown with a Cubs logo on his plaque but people in Montreal and Canada will remember his short time with the Expos.

Smith appeared in his last MLB game July 2, 1997 when he threw two scoreless innings, the 11th and 12th, in a game in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Then oddly, he was not used by Expos manager Felipe Alou from July 3-15. So what did Smith do on July 16? He sidled up to Alou before a game against the Phillies and told the skipper he was quitting. And so he quit and never played again in the majors.

When I chatted with Smith in Haines City, Fla., at the old Kansas City Royals spring-training site in 1998, he said he departed the Expos because he was getting little work out of the bullpen.

"I quit Montreal because I didn't think it was worthwhile sitting around when I wasn't helping much,'' Smith said. "You can throw all you want on the side in the bullpen but it's not the same. There were times when I'd go 12,14 days without pitching. I have no grudges toward the organization. No ill feelings.

"Life is not perfect. I took time off and spent time with my kids. I really enjoyed it. Other than during the strike in 1994, this was the first time I had any time off.''

On top of spending time with the kids, Smith raised Charlois cattle and got into the bush to haul pulpwood, tasks he has done for decades.

At the time of Smith's departure, Alou said he was more saddened than surprised. By then, Ugueth Urbina, 23, was Montreal's closer and Smith, 39, was a mop-up guy.

Smith warmed up late in Montreal's 12-inning, 5-4 loss July 15 against Miami, but didn't get into the game.

"Smith would have liked to pitch more, but it was very hard to use him more often, under the circumstances," Alou told reporters. "We had 12 pitchers and our starters have finished nearly 20 games.

"Smith is a great guy. You don't like to see a guy like him leave in the middle of the season. He told me he had some things to straighten up at home and he might be back next season. But it won't be easy for him, even if he works out at home. It's harder when you're old."

For the record, Smith's 478th and last save in the majors came with the Expos June 10 in support of winner Dave Veres. On April 2, 1997, Smith collected his 474th save, saving it for Expos starter Jeff Juden, who became the 100th pitcher to have a game saved by Smith.

Remarkably, Smith's all-time favourite moment in the MLB had nothing to do with pitching. Not his first win, not his first save.

"Hitting a home run off of Phil Niekro in 1982,'' Smith said, indicating his career highlight.

"Really?'' I asked.

"Definitely, that's my biggest thrill more than anything. It was a knuckleball. I hit it to left field, following a home run by Jody Davis. I've kept the ball, too.''

Smith was big and intimidating at 6-foot-6 but he never engaged in self-promotion or showing up the opposition. He didn't point fingers at opposing batters, he didn't pump his right fist in the air and he didn't come flying off the mound following an inning-ending/strikeout-ending strikeout.

Smith will go into Cooperstown with another superlative closer, Mariano Rivera, marking the first time in Hall of Fame history that two closers will be inducted in the same year.

Congratulations, Lee Arthur. Cooperstown has been a long time coming.

Danny Gallagher has been writing stories and books about the Expos for the last 30 years. His recently released book Blue Monday is available in stores across Canada.