Dave Smith

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1980-1992)

W–L 53–53
ERA 2.67
WHIP 1.21
SO 548
Pitcher PIV 16706.6
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 195 lb
Born
1/21/1955 in Richmond, CA, USA
Died
12/17/2008 in San Diego, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1980-04-11
Last Game
1992-06-08
Awards
2× All-Star

Full name: David Stanley Smith

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
53 53 609 1 0 0 216 809.3 700 240 34 283 548 2.67 16706.6

Career ERA 2.67 vs. league average 3.86 across their career seasons — 30.9% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1980 HOU NL 7 5 57 0 0 0 10 102.7 90 22 32 85 1.93 3.84 (+50%) 4106.2
1981 HOU NL 5 3 42 0 0 0 8 75.0 54 23 23 52 2.76 3.58 (+23%) 1948.2
1982 HOU NL 5 4 49 1 0 0 11 63.3 69 27 31 28 3.84 3.86 (+1%) -409.9
1983 HOU NL 3 1 42 0 0 0 6 72.7 72 25 36 41 3.10 3.87 (+20%) 740.7
1984 HOU NL 5 4 53 0 0 0 5 77.3 60 19 20 45 2.21 3.81 (+42%) 1083.0
1985 HOU NL 9 5 64 0 0 0 27 79.3 69 20 17 40 2.27 3.89 (+42%) 2107.0
1986 HOU NL 4 7 54 0 0 0 33 56.0 39 17 22 46 2.73 3.97 (+31%) 639.4
1987 HOU NL 2 3 50 0 0 0 24 60.0 39 11 21 73 1.65 4.29 (+62%) 4184.8
1988 HOU NL 4 5 51 0 0 0 27 57.3 60 17 19 38 2.67 3.73 (+29%) 1474.9
1989 HOU NL 3 4 52 0 0 0 25 58.0 49 17 19 31 2.64 3.71 (+29%) 1112.0
1990 HOU NL 6 6 49 0 0 0 23 60.3 45 16 20 50 2.39 3.86 (+38%) 1304.2
1991 CHN NL 0 6 35 0 0 0 17 33.0 39 22 19 16 6.00 3.91 (-53%) -1779.2
1992 CHN NL 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 14.3 15 4 4 3 2.51 3.75 (+33%) 195.4
Career · 13 seasons 53 53 609 1 0 0 216 809.1 700 240 283 548 2.67 — 16,707

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
609 44 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 21 .068 .146 .068 .214 0

Career AVG .068 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — 73.6% below league average.

Career OBP .146 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 54.9% below league average.

Career SLG .068 vs. league average .387 across their career seasons — 82.4% below league average.

Career OPS .214 vs. league average .710 across their career seasons — 69.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1980 HOU NL 57 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000 — — — — 0.0
1981 HOU NL 42 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .250 — — — — 0.0
1982 HOU NL 49 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 — — — — 0.0
1983 HOU NL 42 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1984 HOU NL 53 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 — — — — 0.0
1985 HOU NL 64 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 .000 — — — — 0.0
1986 HOU NL 54 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 HOU NL 50 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .500 — — — — 0.0
1988 HOU NL 51 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1989 HOU NL 52 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1990 HOU NL 49 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1991 CHN NL 35 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1992 CHN NL 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 13 seasons 609 44 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 21 .068 — — — — 0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1986 NLCS HOU 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1981 NWDIV HOU 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1980 NLCS HOU 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1 1 7 0 0 6.7 8 4 5 10 5.40

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1986 NLCS HOU 0 1 2 0 0 2.0 2 2 3 2 9.00
1981 NWDIV HOU 0 0 2 0 0 2.3 2 1 0 4 3.86
1980 NLCS HOU 1 0 3 0 0 2.3 4 1 2 4 3.86

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1218 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home320221101.045
Away289221200.091

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home320422.13601261302912.69
Away289387.03401141532572.65

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1992-06-08 CHCSTL — 1.2422010
1992-06-03 CHCSDP — 1.0100010
1992-05-30 CHCLAD — 2.0000000
1992-05-10 CHCCIN — 2.0100010
1992-05-08 CHCCIN — 0.2211000
1992-04-29 CHCATL — 1.2000000
1992-04-23 CHCPHI — 0.2300000
1992-04-19 CHCSTL — 2.0100200
1992-04-15 CHCPIT — 1.0200000
1992-04-10 CHCSTL — 0.1000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 609 1 42 87 11 6

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1980 HOU P 57 0 3 11 1 0
1981 HOU P 42 0 3 11 1 0
1982 HOU P 49 1 3 7 2 2
1983 HOU P 42 0 3 4 2 0
1984 HOU P 53 0 5 9 1 1
1985 HOU P 64 0 4 7 3 1
1986 HOU P 54 0 7 6 0 0
1987 HOU P 50 0 4 4 0 0
1988 HOU P 51 0 3 8 0 0
1989 HOU P 52 0 6 10 0 1
1990 HOU P 49 0 1 3 1 1
1991 CHN P 35 0 0 5 0 0
1992 CHN P 11 0 0 2 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 609

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1993 CHN NL $250,000
1992 CHN NL $2,500,000
1991 CHN NL $1,900,000
1990 HOU NL $1,100,000
1989 HOU NL $1,100,000
1988 HOU NL $1,100,000
1987 HOU NL $700,000
1986 HOU NL $650,000
1985 HOU NL $500,000
Total Career Earnings $9,800,000

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
San Diego State University San Diego CA 1974, 1975, 1976

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1986 Most Valuable Player NL 17th 5.0 336 0
1980 Rookie of the Year NL 5th 13.0 120 2

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Dave Smith (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Todd Worrell
    50-52, 3.09 ERA
  2. 95
    Mike Henneman
    57-42, 3.21 ERA
  3. 92
    Brad Ziegler
    37-38, 2.75 ERA
  4. 91
    Tim Burke
    49-33, 2.72 ERA
  5. 90
    Mark Melancon
    37-40, 2.94 ERA
  6. 90
    Bob Locker
    57-39, 2.75 ERA

Compare Dave Smith

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Smith's closest peers by position and era.

vs Nolan Ryan
vs Bruce Sutter
vs Larry Andersen
vs Mark Eichhorn
vs Rick Aguilera
vs Randy Myers

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Frequently Asked Questions about Dave Smith

What years did Dave Smith play?
Dave Smith played in Major League Baseball from 1980 to 1992.
Was Dave Smith a pitcher?
Yes. Dave Smith pitched in the major leagues, recording 53 wins and 548 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Dave Smith hit?
Dave Smith hit 0 career home runs with 3 hits.