Pete Smith (1987-98 pitcher)

:"For the 1962-63 pitcher, see Pete Smith".Infobox MLB retired
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bgcolor2=black
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name=Pete Smith
position=Pitcher
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1966|2|27
city-state|Abington|Massachusetts
debutdate=September 8
debutyear=by|1987
debutteam=Atlanta Braves
finaldate=September 24
finalyear=by|1998
finalteam=Baltimore Orioles
stat1label = Win-Loss
stat1value = 47-71
stat2label = Earned run average
stat2value = 4.55
stat3label = Strikeouts
stat3value = 640
teams=
* Atlanta Braves (1987-1993)
* New York Mets (1994)
* Cincinnati Reds (1995)
* San Diego Padres (1997-1998)
* Baltimore Orioles (1998)

Peter John Smith (born February 27, 1966) is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher, born in Abington, Massachusetts. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1st round (21st overall pick) in the 1984 Major League Baseball Draft. [citeweb|url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/Pete-Smith-1.shtml|publisher=www.thebaseballcube.com|title=1984 amateur draft|accessdate=2008-06-05] Smith was signed on June 14, by|1984 to play Minor League Baseball in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He batted and threw right-handed during his baseball career.

Career

The Philadelphia Phillies traded Smith to the Atlanta Braves, along with Ozzie Virgil, Jr., for Steve Bedrosian and Milt Thompson. Smith made his major league debut on September 8, by|1987 with the Atlanta Braves at age 21. In by|1988, Smith pitched 3 shutouts, the season after his rookie year. [citeweb|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smithpe02.shtml|publisher=www.baseball-reference.com|title=Statistics of Pete Smith|accessdate=2008-06-05] The Atlanta Braves hoped Smith would develop into an ace pitcher as John Smoltz and Tom Glavine were developing to be. [citeweb|url=http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Pete_Smith_1966&page=summary|title=Ace pitcher hopeful|publisher=www.baseballlibrary.com|accessdate=2008-06-08] But in by|1989, Smith's ERA was at 4.75 at the end of the season, higher than his ERA in 1988 when it was at 3.69. He played the 1987 through by|1993 seasons with the Atlanta Braves before being traded to the New York Mets for Dave Gallagher. [citeweb|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5D81F30F936A15752C1A965958260|publisher=query.nytimes.com|title=Smith traded to the New York Mets for Dave Gallagher|accessdate=2008-06-06] With the New York Mets, Smith only played the by|1994 season before being granted free agency on October 25 of that year. On December 1, 1994, Smith was signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds. He played with the Cincinnati Reds for only half of the by|1995 season before being released on June 27, signing with the Florida Marlins on July 1. After spending the rest of 1995 in the minors, Smith became a free agent again, signing with the San Diego Padres on December 23.

Smith played by|1996 with San Diego's Class AAA farm club, the Las Vegas Stars, but returned to the majors in 1997, playing the next season and a half with the Padres. On June 9, by|1998, Smith was traded to the Baltimore Orioles organization for minor leaguer Eric Estes. He played his final game on September 24, 1998. He earned a career ERA of 4.55, striking out 640 batters. Smith also pitched 4 shutouts throughout his major league career.

References

External links

* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=smithpe02 Baseball Almanac]
* [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/smithpe02.php Baseball prospectus] statistics
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/all_time_stats/players/s/4126/index.html Sportsillustrated] statistics

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