There's not much visually separating Dave Smith from a BP pitcher chosen to throw in the Home Run Derby here. Grey hair, protruding gut, toneless arms...
However, Dave Smith was actually a damn fine reliever. He started out is career with a bang, coming out of the pen to throw 102 innings and finish with an ERA of 1.93. Somehow that earned him only a 5th place finish in the NL ROY voting, losing out to Steve Howe (druggie), Bill Gullickson (so-so career), Lonnie Smith (druggie) and Ron Oester (I have nothing to say about Ron Oester). Smith averaged around 60-75 innings per year and finished his career with a 2.67 ERA (129 ERA+). All in all, he was a very valuable reliever for some competitive Astros teams.
Is Terry Harper actually #49? These both say #50.
ReplyDeleteTerry Harper is indeed #49. Sorry about that and nice catch!
ReplyDeletePoor guy just passed away in December of a heart attack. He was only 53 years old.
ReplyDeleteI think that's Glenn Davis in the background.
ReplyDelete