Pete Smith: Mid 1990's Mets Pitcher (1994)
By 1984, he was a first round draft pick (21st pick overall) for the Philadelphia Phillies.
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Trivia: Smith would serve up HRs in six straight games at two different stretches during the season. He gave up two or more HRs seven times in a game as well. Overall, he allowed a league high 25 HRs that season.
Serving Up Four HRs: On May 22nd, Smith he allowed a season high four HRs to the Phillies at Veterans Stadium. Former Met Lenny Dykstra, as well as Pete Incaviglia, Darren Daulton & Mariano Duncan all went deep in the 8-3 Met loss.
On May 27th, he rebounded with a complete game victory over the Reds at Shea Stadium, where allowed just one earned run in the 10-2 win. From June to early August when the baseball strike ended the season, he won just one more game going 1-5, allowing 11 more HRs in ten starts.
On the year he was 4-10 with a 5.55 ERA in 21 starts. He struck out 62 & walked 42 batters in 131 innings pitched. He was granted free agency & signed on with the Reds.
Career Stats: In his 11-year career Smith was 47-71 with a 4.55 ERA. He had 640 strike outs with 404 walks, allowing 16 HRs in 1025 innings pitched with in 231 appearances (163 starts).
The following year he was traded along with Ozzie Virgil, to the Atlanta Braves for Steve Bedrosian and Milt Thompson. He spent two years with the Braves AA Greenville club breaking into the big leagues by 1987.
MLB Career: In September 1987, Smith debuted as a September callup, pitching in six games as a starter. In 1989 he was 7-15 with a 3.69 ERA, tying a young Tom Glavine for the team lead in wins. That year the Braves finished last going 54-106. In 1989 he was 5-14 on another last place Braves team.
MLB Career: In September 1987, Smith debuted as a September callup, pitching in six games as a starter. In 1989 he was 7-15 with a 3.69 ERA, tying a young Tom Glavine for the team lead in wins. That year the Braves finished last going 54-106. In 1989 he was 5-14 on another last place Braves team.
Smith remained in Atlanta for seven seasons, he was there as the Braves got better, getting to two consecutive World Series with him. In those years he was 30-48 in 125 appearances making 113 starts as a Brave. Teammate Mark Lemke later revealed he felt Pete was dealing with injuries with he never made public, which caused his struggles & high ERA's. Thru his first five seasons his ERA was at 4.37.
In the Braves 1991 NL Pennant season Pete only made had 14 appearances, with ten starts, spending time in the minors, appearing in 14 Braves games going just 1-3.
In the Braves 1992 Pennant Season, Smith had his best season. He began the year at AAA Richmond going 7-4 with a 2.14 ERA , getting up to the Atlanta staff in early August. He surprised everyone, going 7-0 with a 2.05 ERA in 11 starts thru the end of the regular season. He threw two complete game victories including a September 11th, four hit shut out over the Astros.
1992 Post Season: In the NLCS win over the Pirates, he made two appearances allowing a run on two hits in 3.2 innings of middle relief. In the World Series loss to Toronto. Smith relieved Steve Avery in the final Game #6 pitching three scoreless innings. The Blue Jays won it in 11 innings sealing their Championship.
The next season, Smith was not as effective dropping to 4-8 with a 4.37 ERA, serving up 15 HRs in 90 innings. That winter Smith got traded to the New York Mets for Bob Gallagher.
Mets Career: In 1994 Smith became the Mets number three starter behind Bret Saberhagen & Bobby Jones. The rotation also included Mike Remlinger & Jason Jacome. The Mets finished third under manager Dallas Green going 55-58 until the baseball strike ended the season.
On April 5th, 1994 Smith made his Mets debut in the Mets second game of the year. He got his first Mets win that day, in a 6-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The win helped the Mets sweep the opening series & begin the year at a positive 3-0.
But in his next start, Smith gave up six runs over five innings in 6-1 loss at Houston. For the rest of April, Smith lost three straight decisions as his ERA rose to 5.87. He gave up six HRs over a four-game span, which became his biggest issue.
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On May 1st, he earned his second Met win, as he defeated the Dodgers at Shea, pitching seven innings allowing four runs, but he was helped out by Todd Hundley who hit two HRs in that game. He took two more losses to fall to 2-5.
Serving Up Four HRs: On May 22nd, Smith he allowed a season high four HRs to the Phillies at Veterans Stadium. Former Met Lenny Dykstra, as well as Pete Incaviglia, Darren Daulton & Mariano Duncan all went deep in the 8-3 Met loss.
On the year he was 4-10 with a 5.55 ERA in 21 starts. He struck out 62 & walked 42 batters in 131 innings pitched. He was granted free agency & signed on with the Reds.
Post Mets Career: He pitched one season with the Reds then signed with the San Diego Padres.
In 1996 he spent the entire year at AAA getting back to the big leagues with the Padres the next year. In 1997 he made 37 relief appearances going 7-6 with a 4.81 ERA. That year he earned his only career save as well. In 1998 he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles pitching as a middle reliever closing out his career.
In 1996 he spent the entire year at AAA getting back to the big leagues with the Padres the next year. In 1997 he made 37 relief appearances going 7-6 with a 4.81 ERA. That year he earned his only career save as well. In 1998 he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles pitching as a middle reliever closing out his career.
Retirement: After baseball he was used as a consultant on the film "42". Since 2007 he has worked in the medical field as a spine specialist in Atlanta area.
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