With Help From Dodgers, Smith Is Baseball’s Save Leader

Lee Smith got his customary call Tuesday--ninth inning, game on the line, his St. Louis Cardinals clinging to a narrow lead.

The hulking right-hander responded with his third save in the first seven games of the 1993 season and the 358th of his career.

It enabled Smith to break a tie with Jeff Reardon and become baseball’s all-time save leader, accounting for the bottle of champagne that was icing in his locker after the Cardinals had spoiled the Dodgers’ home opener, 9-7.

“It feels good to get it out of the way, but I’m not in the game to set records,” Smith said. “I want to pitch in the World Series, and I’d be happy with 20 saves if it helped get us there. At 35, I don’t know how many pitches I have left, how many more chances I’ll have to get into a Series.”

The Cardinals are 5-2 and laying a solid foundation as they try to replace the Pittsburgh Pirates as the National League East’s dominant team.

Smith put the finishing touches on a game they led 5-0 and trailed 7-5 before Gerald Perry hit a three-run pinch-homer against Pedro Martinez in the seventh inning.

Of Smith, Manager Joe Torre said: “Everyone wants to talk about Eck (Dennis Eckersley) and some of the others. It’s as if Lee has been lost in the shuffle, taken for granted, but his record speaks for itself.

“He’s saved more than 90 games for me the last two years and never refused the ball, never made an excuse when he’s blown a save. He’s not the consistent 90 (m.p.h.) guy anymore, but he’s got a slider and forkball to go with the fastball and he’s more of a pitcher.

“He’s a dream, a horse, and he’s actually throwing better this year than he did last year.”

Smith registered a league-leading 43 saves in 1992 after setting a league record with 47 the year before. He is the only pitcher in league history to have consecutive 40-save seasons and credited Torre’s judicious use and a fleet of valuable set-up men--Mike Perez, Cris Carpenter and Frank DiPino, among them--for helping preserve his arm.

“I really owe a lot to Joe,” he said. “I only have to pitch an inning at a time here, and that’s been the key. I often worked two innings at a time with the (Chicago) Cubs and (Boston) Red Sox, and that took a lot out of me.

“I still have confidence that I can get hitters out with my fastball, but I’m not that much into the macho thing that I have to blow guys away. I’m more of a pitcher than I was in Chicago.”

Smith retired Jody Reed on a fly to left Tuesday, saw third baseman Todd Zeile fail to come up with Eric Davis’ hard-hit grounder, got Strawberry on a fly to left, walked Eric Karros and retired Tim Wallach on a fly to right after the Dodgers had pulled a double steal to put the tying run on second.

Smith said the Dodgers always tend to “hit me pretty good,” even though 26 of his 358 saves have been at L.A.’s expense, including Nos. 1 and 300.

Last year, Smith shared some of the closing assignments with Todd Worrell, who is still the Cardinals’ career save leader and whose uncertain physical status clouds the Dodgers’ hopes. It is unclear how the burden of handling the task himself will affect Smith in the second half of the season, but he said: “At this point, I feel better than I’ve ever felt.”

Smith said he attended a meeting of 300-save pitchers, including Rollie Fingers, Reardon, Goose Gossage and Bruce Sutter, in Miami in ’91 and came away convinced that consistency is the hallmark, and that he is proudest that he converted about 89% of his save opportunities in St. Louis.

He is in the final year of a three-year contract and uncertain about the future, but he has come a long way from those Louisiana college days when he dreamed about a basketball future as the next Dr. J.

“I still think I had a better jump shot than fastball, but I had bad knees and I never would have been paid as much,” Smith said, smiling.

Career Save Leaders

Career save leaders since 1969, when saves became an official major league statistic. 1. *Lee Smith: 358 2. *Jeff Reardon: 357 3. Rollie Fingers: 341 4. *Rich Gossage: 308 5. Bruce Sutter: 300 6. *Dave Righetti: 251 7. Dan Quisenberry: 244 8. *Dennis Eckersley: 241 9. *John Franco: 226 10. *Tom Henke: 224 11. Sparky Lyle: 222 12. Gene Garber: 218 13. Dave Smith: 216 14. *Bobby Thigpen: 200 15. Steve Bedrosian: 184 Kent Tekulve: 184 * active