Sports

Former Sox pitcher Lee Smith gets HOF nod

Lee Smith, the closer for the Red Sox from 1988-90, was one of two former players elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday night. Smith received all 16 of the possible votes from the Today’s Game Era Committee – one of four Eras Committees designated by the Hall of Fame to review former players who were not elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Longtime White Sox designated hitter Harold Baines also got the call to the Hall, earning 12 of 16 votes to clear the 75 percent requirement.

Acquired from the Chicago Cubs in December 1987, Smith pitched for the Red Sox in 139 games. During that time, the righty recorded 209 strikeouts, compiled a 3.04 earned-run average and locked down 58 saves.

In his 18 years in professional baseball, Smith logged 478 saves – the third most of all time. He had 13 consecutive seasons of 25-plus saves, including 10 of those years where he had 30 or more. His 169 four-out saves are the fourth most in MLB history.

After serving as closer for two full seasons for the Red Sox, Smith was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals on May 4, 1990 in exchange for outfielder Tom Brunansky. The reliever retired in 1997 after spending nearly two decades in baseball, most of which came with the Cubs.

Smith never garnered more than 50.6 percent of the vote during his eligible time on the BBWAA ballot, while Baines’s highest percentage never rose above 6.1.

The threshold for election to the MLB Hall of Fame is 75 percent; a player can only remain on the ballot for 10 years – if they continuously receive more than five percent of the votes – before they move to the Era Committees for review in perpetuity.

Smith’s last year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot was 2017, while Baines was left off after not meeting the five-percent minimum in 2011.

The BBWAA will announce their election results on January 22, 2019.

Names on this year’s ballot include a slew of former Red Sox players both new to the ballot and returning. Up for election after not hitting the 75 percent mark last year are seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens (57.3 percent), 2004 ace Curt Schilling (51.2 percent), longtime slugger Manny Ramirez (22 percent) and half-season reliever Billy Wagner (11.1 percent).

World Series winners Derek Lowe and Kevin Youkilis make their first appearance on the ballot, as do former Sox Jason Bay and Darren Oliver.