What years did Lee Smith play?

Lee Smith played in Major League Baseball from 1980 to 1997.

Was Lee Smith a pitcher?

Yes. Lee Smith pitched in the major leagues, recording 71 wins and 1251 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Lee Smith hit?

Lee Smith hit 1 career home runs with 3 hits.

What was Lee Smith's career batting average?

Lee Smith batted .047 over his career, with 3 hits in 64 at bats.

How many RBI did Lee Smith have?

Lee Smith drove in 2 runs in his career.

Lee Smith

Pitcher · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1980-1997)

Lee Smith was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1980 to 1997 for 8 teams, including the Chicago Cubs, a span of 18 seasons. Across 1,022 career appearances, he went 71-92 with a 3.03 ERA, 1,251 strikeouts, and 478 saves. Lee Smith was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019 and was a 7-time All-Star and a 3-time Reliever of the Year. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 33335.5.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 12, 2026

⭐ Hall of Fame 2019

W–L 71–92

ERA 3.03

WHIP 1.26

SO 1,251

Pitcher PIV 33335.5

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'5" / 220 lb
Born: 12/4/1957 in Jamestown, LA, USA
MLB Debut: 1980-09-01
Last Game: 1997-07-02
Hall of Fame: Inducted 2019 (BBWAA)
Awards: 7× All-Star · 3× Reliever of the Year

Full name: Lee Arthur Smith

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

Lee Smith — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
71	92	1,022	6	0	0	478	1289.1	1,133	434	89	486	1,251	3.03	33335.5

Career ERA 3.03 vs. league average 4.02 across their career seasons — 24.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Lee Smith Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1980	CHN	NL	2	0	18	0	0	21.2	21	7	14	17	2.91	3.84 (+24%)	391.9
1981	CHN	NL	3	6	40	1	1	66.2	57	26	31	50	3.51	3.58 (+2%)	1103.7
1982	CHN	NL	2	5	72	5	17	117.0	105	35	37	99	2.69	3.86 (+30%)	3766.6
1983	CHN	NL	4	10	66	0	29	103.1	70	19	41	91	1.65	3.87 (+57%)	2718.0
1984	CHN	NL	9	7	69	0	33	101.0	98	41	35	86	3.65	3.81 (+4%)	2407.1
1985	CHN	NL	7	4	65	0	33	97.2	87	33	32	112	3.04	3.89 (+22%)	3215.7
1986	CHN	NL	9	9	66	0	31	90.1	69	31	42	93	3.09	3.97 (+22%)	1974.4
1987	CHN	NL	4	10	62	0	36	83.2	84	29	32	96	3.12	4.29 (+27%)	4145.5
1988	BOS	AL	4	5	64	0	29	83.2	72	26	37	96	2.80	3.73 (+25%)	1721.9
1989	BOS	AL	6	1	64	0	25	70.2	53	28	33	96	3.57	3.71 (+4%)	2078.7
1990	BOS	AL	2	1	11	0	4	14.1	13	3	9	17	1.88	3.86 (+51%)	554.0
1990	SLN	NL	3	4	53	0	27	68.2	58	16	20	70	2.10	3.86 (+46%)	2872.7
1991	SLN	NL	6	3	67	0	47	73.0	70	19	13	67	2.34	3.91 (+40%)	2716.5
1992	SLN	NL	4	9	70	0	43	75.0	62	26	26	60	3.12	3.75 (+17%)	1578.3
1993	SLN	NL	2	4	55	0	43	50.0	49	25	9	49	4.50	4.19 (-7%)	-297.2
1993	NYA	AL	0	0	8	0	3	8.0	4	0	5	11	0.00	—	0.0
1994	BAL	AL	1	4	41	0	33	38.1	34	14	11	42	3.29	4.51 (+27%)	653.2
1995	CAL	AL	0	5	52	0	37	49.1	42	19	25	43	3.47	4.45 (+22%)	896.3
1996	CAL	AL	0	0	11	0	0	11.0	8	3	3	6	2.45	4.61 (+47%)	471.9
1996	CIN	NL	3	4	43	0	2	44.1	49	20	23	35	4.06	4.61 (+12%)	247.5
1997	MON	NL	0	1	25	0	5	21.2	28	14	8	15	5.82	4.39 (-32%)	119.0
Career · 21 seasons			71	92	1,022	6	478	1,289.1	1,133	434	486	1,251	3.03	—	33,335

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

Lee Smith — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1,023	64	2	3	0	0	1	2	0	3	42	.047	.090	.094	.183	0

Career AVG .047 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 82.0% below league average.

Career OBP .090 vs. league average .328 across their career seasons — 72.7% below league average.

Career SLG .094 vs. league average .396 across their career seasons — 76.3% below league average.

Career OPS .183 vs. league average .723 across their career seasons — 74.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Lee Smith Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1980	CHN	NL	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	CHN	NL	40	9	0	0	0	0	0	7	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	CHN	NL	72	16	2	1	1	1	1	9	.062	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	CHN	NL	66	9	0	1	0	0	1	5	.111	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	CHN	NL	69	13	0	1	0	1	0	8	.077	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	CHN	NL	65	6	0	0	0	0	1	5	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	CHN	NL	66	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1987	CHN	NL	63	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	BOS	AL	64	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	BOS	AL	64	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	BOS	AL	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	SLN	NL	53	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1991	SLN	NL	67	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1992	SLN	NL	70	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	SLN	NL	55	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	NYA	AL	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1994	BAL	AL	41	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1995	CAL	AL	52	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1996	CAL	AL	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1996	CIN	NL	43	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1997	MON	NL	25	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 21 seasons			1,023	64	2	3	1	2	3	42	.047	—	—	—	—	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

Lee Smith — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Lee Smith — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1988	ALCS	BOS	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1984	NLCS	CHN	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Lee Smith — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	2	4	0	1	5.1	9	5	1	7	8.44

Playoff Pitching by Year

Lee Smith — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1988	ALCS	BOS	0	1	2	0	0	3.1	6	3	1	4	8.10
1984	NLCS	CHN	0	1	2	0	1	2.0	3	2	0	3	9.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2045 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Lee Smith — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	543	27	1	1	0	1	.037
Away	480	37	1	2	1	1	.054

Pitching — Home / Away

Lee Smith — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	542	696.2	637	244	231	693	3.15
Away	480	592.2	496	190	255	558	2.89

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Lee Smith — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1997-07-02	WSN	TOR	—	2.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1997-06-28	WSN	MIA	—	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0
1997-06-24	WSN	CIN	—	0.0	2	2	2	1	0	0
1997-06-17	WSN	BAL	—	1.0	1	1	1	0	1	1
1997-06-10	WSN	PHI	SV	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
1997-06-04	WSN	ATL	—	1.0	2	1	1	0	0	0
1997-05-30	WSN	PIT	—	0.1	2	2	0	0	1	0
1997-05-27	WSN	NYN	SV	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1997-05-25	WSN	PIT	—	0.0	2	3	3	1	0	1
1997-05-22	WSN	PIT	—	1.0	3	3	3	1	1	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Lee Smith — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	1022	6	52	111	4	9

Season-by-Season Fielding

Lee Smith — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1980	CHN	P	18	0	0	3	0	0
1981	CHN	P	40	1	3	9	0	0
1982	CHN	P	72	5	9	10	1	2
1983	CHN	P	66	0	8	9	0	0
1984	CHN	P	69	0	6	13	0	2
1985	CHN	P	65	0	3	9	0	1
1986	CHN	P	66	0	1	12	0	2
1987	CHN	P	62	0	3	8	0	0
1988	BOS	P	64	0	5	4	1	0
1989	BOS	P	64	0	1	1	0	0
1990	BOS	P	11	0	0	2	0	0
1990	SLN	P	53	0	2	1	0	0
1991	SLN	P	67	0	3	6	0	0
1992	SLN	P	70	0	1	7	1	1
1993	SLN	P	55	0	0	1	0	0
1993	NYA	P	8	0	0	1	0	0
1994	BAL	P	41	0	2	2	1	0
1995	CAL	P	52	0	1	4	0	0
1996	CAL	P	11	0	1	0	0	0
1996	CIN	P	43	0	2	5	0	1
1997	MON	P	25	0	1	4	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Lee Smith Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	1023

Awards & Honors

Lee Smith — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1994	Reliever of the Year Award
1994	TSN Fireman of the Year
1993	Player of the Week	Week of 1993-06-26
1992	Player of the Week	Week of 1992-08-29
1992	Reliever of the Year Award
1992	TSN Fireman of the Year
1991	Pitcher of the Month	April
1991	Player of the Week	Week of 1991-09-28
1991	Reliever of the Year Award
1991	TSN Fireman of the Year
1983	TSN Fireman of the Year

Salary History

Lee Smith — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1997	MON	NL	$400,000
1996	CAL	AL	$2,100,000
1995	CAL	AL	$2,561,113
1994	BAL	AL	$2,025,000
1993	SLN	NL	$2,691,667
1992	SLN	NL	$2,791,667
1991	SLN	NL	$2,791,666
1990	BOS	AL	$1,200,000
1989	BOS	AL	$1,425,000
1988	BOS	AL	$850,000
1987	CHN	NL	$840,000
1986	CHN	NL	$720,000
1985	CHN	NL	$670,000
Total Career Earnings			$21,066,113

Award Voting History

Lee Smith — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1994	Cy Young Award	AL	5th	1.0	140	0
1994	Most Valuable Player	AL	14th	18.0	392	0
1992	Cy Young Award	NL	4th	3.0	120	0
1991	Cy Young Award	NL	2nd	60.0	120	4
1991	Most Valuable Player	NL	8th	89.0	336	0
1988	Most Valuable Player	AL	21th	4.0	392	0
1983	Cy Young Award	NL	9th	1.0	120	0
1983	Most Valuable Player	NL	18th	8.0	336	0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

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

Compare Lee Smith

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Lee Smith: the record in brief

Between the debut on September 1, 1980 and the final game on July 2, 1997, Lee Smith built the record summarized on this page. The season rows list, in order, the Chicago Cubs (1980 through 1987), the Boston Red Sox (1988 to 1990), the St. Louis Cardinals (1990 through 1993), the New York Yankees (1993), the Baltimore Orioles (1994), the California Angels (1995 to 1996), the Cincinnati Reds (1996), and the Montreal Expos (1997). Smith played primarily as a pitcher and both batted and threw right-handed. Born on December 4, 1957, in Jamestown, LA, USA, Smith was listed at 6'5" and 220 pounds. On the record, Lee Smith was born Lee Arthur Smith.

Smith's career pitching line is 71 wins, 92 losses and a 3.03 ERA over 1,022 appearances. The same table counts 1,251 strikeouts and 478 saves. That 3.03 ERA compares with a 4.02 league average across the same seasons, 24.6% better. 1984 brought Smith a season-high 9 wins. 1985 produced Smith's most strikeouts, 112.

Frequently Asked Questions about Lee Smith

What years did Lee Smith play?: Lee Smith played in Major League Baseball from 1980 to 1997.
Was Lee Smith a pitcher?: Yes. Lee Smith pitched in the major leagues, recording 71 wins and 1251 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Lee Smith hit?: Lee Smith hit 1 career home runs with 3 hits.
Is Lee Smith in the Hall of Fame?: Yes. Lee Smith was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.
What was Lee Smith's career batting average?: Lee Smith batted .047 over his career, with 3 hits in 64 at bats.
How many RBI did Lee Smith have?: Lee Smith drove in 2 runs in his career.