THE SACRIFICIAL BEAR

One of my favorite baseball players is Lee Smith. The all-time leader in saves who's been denied entrance into the Hall of Fame. For some unknown reason.

Standing 6'6'' and weighing in the neighborhood of 275 pounds, the man was an imposing figure. Once he was walking near the wall in St. Petersburg, Florida, during Spring Training when a young fan yelled, "Ozzie," thinking the Smith on the back of his jersey denoted Ozzie Smith. Lee stopped, smiled and corrected the fan saying he was Lee Smith and not Ozzie "who's a little bitty man standing only about this tall," as he gestured about waist high. I hope the humor of the situation came through in writing, for it was one of the funniest lines I've ever heard.

But I liked him long before I heard him say that. In fact, I even liked him when he wore the Cub's uniform. In the late hours of the afternoon with the game on the line, big Lee was summoned from the Cubs bullpen to finish the job. Which he usually did. He was that shutdown.

But in this morning's paper. I read why it took him so long to make that walk from the bullpen to the mound. He was trying to help out the grounds crew. If they had to work past 4:30, they got paid overtime. So here's a professional player taking care of members of the grounds crew. And without fanfare.

That's the kind of guy Lee Smith is. And as much as I like him and think he deserves the Hall of Fame, he is one player I think should wear the hat of the Cubs upon his induction. As long as he pitched well for the Cardinals, as many saves as he had for my team, he is and was a Cub. A sacrificial bear of a man.