Photo: Terren Peterson / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Lee Smith is one of those guys who defined what a closer was supposed to look like before anyone even had a clear definition for the role. Standing 6-foot-6 out of Shreveport, Louisiana, he was genuinely intimidating on the mound — a big, hard-throwing right-hander who made batters uncomfortable just by walking out of the bullpen. The fact that he was the first pitcher ever to reach 400 saves, and held the all-time saves record for over a decade, tells you everything about his durability and consistency across eight different teams. What I always find underappreciated about him is how long it took Cooperstown to recognize him — he finally got inducted in 2019 via the Modern Baseball Era Committee, and it felt overdue. A quiet legend who just kept getting outs.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Lee Smith
- Name (Japanese)
- リー・スミス
- Reading
- りー・すみす
- Born
- December 4, 1957 (age 68)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Rooster
- Origin
- Shreveport, Louisiana, United States
- Occupation
- baseball player / basketball player
2. Background
- University
- Northwestern State University
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Lee Smith born?
Born December 4, 1957 (age 68).
Where is Lee Smith from?
Lee Smith is from Shreveport, Louisiana, United States.
What does Lee Smith do?
Lee Smith works as baseball player, basketball player.
Baseball player — see all → · Basketball player — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.