Joe Smith: Late 2000's Mets Relief Pitcher (2007 - 2008) & His Sports Reporter Wife- Allie LaForce

Joseph Michael Smith was born on March 22, 1984, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The six-foot, two right-handed Smith was the New York Mets third round draft pick in 2006 (the 94th pick overall).

In 2006 Smith pitched on the A ball Brooklyn Cyclones team earning nine saves with an 0.45 ERA in 17 appearances. He was named one of the Top twenty Prospects in the minor leagues by Baseball America. 

In summer 2006, when the Mets Dauner Sanchez went down with injury after a taxicab accident in Miami, Mets General Manager Omar Minaya, considered bringing up Smith. But instead made the trade for Roberto Hernandez & Oliver Perez.

2007: Smith was invited to Spring Training & surprised everyone when he made the team going north. He soon became a popular player and was known as an all-around good guy at Shea Stadium. 

Trivia:

photo by centerfieldmaz

centerfieldmaz had the pleasure of meeting him at a batting practice session before an interleague game against the Minnesota Twins & he was a gentleman. 

Mets Debut: Smith made his MLB debut on Opening Day 2007, pitching in relief of Tom Glavine in a 6-1 win against the St. Louis Cardinals. He would pitch his first 16 2/3 innings before allowing a run, which didn't come until May 13th against the Milwaukee Brewers.

On April 24th he earned his first win, in an extra inning victory vs. the Colorado Rockies. 

On May 2th he allowed a run in the top of the 12th inning to the San Francisco Giants, but came up with a win as Armondo Benitez balked home a run in the bottom of the inning, followed by a Carlos Delgado walk off HR. Smith pitched well in the first few months of the season, keeping his ERA under two until mid-June. 

He earned his ninth hold of the season on June 15th, holding down the A.L. New York club in a 2-0 Oliver Perez shut out saved by Billy Wagner. He began to wear down in July, allowing runs in three of five games taking a loss to the San Diego Padres as well.

Smith was sent back to the minors for a tune up. returning in September, for the pennant run. The Mets fell short again, missing the post season with a loss on the final day of the season. 

Smith finished the year 3-2 with ten holds, 45 strike outs, 21 walks in 44 innings over 54 appearances, posting a 3.45 ERA. 

2008: Smith was one of the best Met pitchers out of the bullpen & one of the only relievers to actually be successful. His pitching motion was somewhere between a side armed & submarine style delivery, which was tough on right-handed hitters. 

He began the year with four holds in April but blew two saves in May. On June 10th he took a loss to Arizona, serving up a HR to Chris Snyder. On July 6th he closed out the final three innings in an extra inning game at Philadelphia, the Mets won the game on Fernando Tatis HR, giving Smith the win. 

In August, Smith recorded seven holds & closed out the month with a 5-4 win over the Marlins in Florida. 

From September 2nd -September 10th, he was credited with three r wins in relief. On September 25th, he added another win over the Cubs for his sixth of the season.

On the year, Smith appeared in 82 games, second on the club to Pedro Feliciano, posting a 6-3 record with a 3.55 ERA. He struck out 52 batters & walked 31 in 63 innings pitched. His .637 winning percent was third best on the club behind Dauner Sanchez & Johan Santana.

In the 2008 off season, he was part of a 12-player deal, going to the Cleveland Indians, with the Mets getting J.J. Putz, Jeremy Reed & Sean Green.

Post Mets Career: In Cleveland he appeared in 37 games posting a 3.44 ERA in 2009. 

Smith spent five solid seasons in the Indians bullpen, as a fine middle reliever, earning a reputation as reliable work horse. In 2012 was second in the A.L. in appearances with 71. He would appear in 70 plus games in each of the next four seasons. In 2012 Smith was 7-4 posting a 2.96 ERA, recording 21 holds. 

His manager in Cleveland (2010-2012) was Manny Acta, who was a coach with the Mets while Smith was there as well.

Trivia: In 2012 Smith attempted to enter a bar in Cleveland but was stopped for not having proper ID. He said he was a pitcher for the Indians, but no one believed him. Soon a shoving, shouting match followed & the police were called in to break it up.

At this time, he also began dating FOX 8 sports personality & sideline reporter Allie LaForce.

In 2013 Smith started out the year 4-0, for new manager Terry Francona. He did not earn a loss until mid-July. Smith ended the year at 6-2 with three saves & 25 holds to his credit. 

He led the AL Wild Card Indian staff in ERA (2.29) and was tied for second to Cody Allen in appearances with 70. Smith was part of a fine Indians bullpen that went 25-11 with a 3.30 ERA. That year he made it to his first post season.

2013 Post Season- ALWC: Smith pitched one inning of the ALWC game loss to Tampa.

In 2014 he signed on with the L.A. Angels of Anaheim & continued his fine pitching. Smith was second in the league in appearances with 76. 

He went 7-2 with 15 saves & 17 holds, posting a 1.81 ERA striking out 68 batters while walking just 15 in 173 innings. He took over the set up role when Huston Street went out with injury.

2014 Post season: In the ALDS loss to the Kansas City Royals, Smith pitched two scoreless innings in two of the games.

In 2015 Smith went back to the role as setup man, where he excelled with 32 holds to his credit.  He also went 5-5 with five saves posting a 3.58 ERA in 70 appearances (9th most in the AL). As his teammate Huston Street went on to save 40 games. 

In August of 2016 he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for a minor leaguer, to help the Cubs in the post season run. He pitched 16 games for the Cubs, earning a win on September 1st against the San Francisco Giants.

He recorded a loss & hold as well in September. Overall, in the regular season, he posted a 2.51 ERA in 14 innings. 

2016 Post Season: He did not pitch in the post season but earned a Championship ring as the Cubs won their first world series in 108 years. 

In the winter of 2017, he signed on with the Toronto Blue Jays. After 38 games there he was back with the Cleveland Indians, pitching 21 games of middle to late relief, finishing off two games. He posted a 3.44 ERA with 20 strike outs & no walks in 18 innings of work.

2017 Post Season: He pitched in four games of the 2017 ALDS finishing off two of those games, not allowing a hit or run in 2.1 innings of work.

In November 2017 Smith signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros. He continued to be a fine reliever going 5-1 with 10 holds posting a 3.74 ERA. 

2018 Post Season: Smith got to his fourth post season in 2018, seeing action in one game of the ALCS loss to the Boston Red Sox.

In 2019 he tore his Achilles & did not join the club until mid July. Overall, Smith made 28 appearances & went 1-0 with four holds & a 1.80 ERA in 25 innings pitched, as usual he was a huge weapon out of the bullpen.

2019 Post Season: Smith saw action in two ALDS games against the Rays pitching 1.2 scoreless innings. He made four appearances in the ALCS allowing one run in 3.2 innings of work. 

2019 World Series: In the World Series loss to the Nationals, he made four appearances, pitching scoreless innings in Games #1 #3 & #5. In Game #7 Smith entered the game with Houston down 4-2 in the 9th inning. He gave up two hits & a walk before being relieved by Jose Urquidy who gave up a base hit with two runs getting charged to Smith. 

In 2020 he opted out of the Covid 19 shortened season.

In 2021 Smith pitched with the Astros until the trade deadline when he was sent to Seattle Mariners with Abraham Toro in exchange for Rafael Montero & Kendall Graveman. 

In 2022 he signed on with the Minnesota Twins where he pitched in 34 games going 1-1 posting a 4.61 ERA with 14 holds before getting released in August.

Career Stats: In his 15-year career, Smith is 55-34 with a 3.14 ERA. He has appeared in 866 games striking out 666 batters & walking 254 in 762 innings pitched. Smith has 30 saves & finished off 176 career games.

Family: Joe married FOX Sports personality & sideline reporter, Allie Deforce whom he had been dating since 2012.

Allie Deforce was born in Vermillion Ohio in 1988. Her mother was Miss Ohio in 1977. In 2005, Allie represented Ohio as Miss Teen & won the pageant being crowned Miss Teen USA for 2005.

Allie's winnings got her a job with the Trump Modeling Agency & a scholarship for the School of Film & TV in Manhattan.

There she earned a degree in journalism, eventually working as a sideline reporter for Sportstime Ohio & then at WLW Channel 8 in Cleveland as a Sports reporter. 

Allie has been a reporter as well as an anchor for CBS Sports & Turner Sports as lead reporter for SEC college football.  She now is a reporter for Turner Sports covering the NBA on TNT. She is also a host of We Need To Talk on the CBS Sports network.