Zane William Smith (born December 28, 1960) is a former American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player.

Career

Smith, a left-handed pitcher, played collegiately at

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

. He was drafted by the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

in the 3rd round of the 1982 amateur draft and made his Major League debut on September 10, 1984 for Atlanta. His first successful season was 1987 with the Braves, when he led the team with 15 wins, nearly twice as many as any other Braves pitcher on a team with only 69 wins. He was among the league leaders in wins (tied 5th), innings pitched (5th), games started (tied 1st), complete games (4th) and shutouts (tied 3rd). Smith was traded from Atlanta to the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

on July 2, 1989 for

Sergio Valdez Sergio Valdez (born September 7, 1964 in Elias Piña, Dominican Republic) is a former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from through with the Montreal Expos (1986, 1992–93), the Atlanta Braves (1989–90), the ...

, Nate Minchey and minor leaguer Kevin Dean. Just over a year later, on August 8, 1990, Smith was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Scott Ruskin,

Willie Greene Willie Louis Greene (born September 23, 1971) is an American former professional baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his nine-year stint in the major leagues, Greene played for four teams: the Cincinnati Reds (1992–1998), th ...

and

Moisés Alou Moisés Rojas-Alou Beltré (; ; born July 3, 1966) is a Dominican-American former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for 17 seasons in the National League. In 1,942 career games, Alou had a batting average of .303 with 2,134 hits, ...

. The trade allowed the Pirates to hold off the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

down the stretch and win the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

Eastern Division pennant. Smith contributed by winning 6 games, 3 of them complete games, 2 of those shutouts, while losing only 2, and compiling a 1.30 ERA. It was during this season that Smith had his best performance, a 1 hit complete game shutout of the Mets in the first game of a doubleheader sweep that gave the Pirates a 2.5 game lead over the Mets. Smith played with the Pirates through the 1994 season before signing as a free agent with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

on April 18, 1995. Smith did not have much success during the 1995 season for Boston, compiling a 5.61 ERA and an 8–8 record in 24 starts. The next offseason, he returned to the Pirates for a salary that was significantly reduced from the $3.125 million he earned in 1994. Smith pitched his final career game for the Pirates on July 5, 1996; he would be released by the Pirates the following day.

Highlights

On May 1, 1986 Smith struck out 12 Mets to end New York's club record tying 11 game win streak. On April 17, 1988 Smith got Atlanta's first victory of the season, ending a 10-game season-opening losing streak that set an MLB record. On October 3, 1995 Smith gave up a walk-off home run to

Tony Peña Antonio Francisco Peña Padilla (; born June 4, 1957) is a Dominican former professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Pirates, Cardinals, Red Sox, Indians, White Sox, and Astros. ...

to end Game 1 of the

1995 American League Division Series The 1995 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 1995 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Sunday, October 8, with the champions of the three AL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—p ...

. On June 7, 1996 Smith recorded the 100th and final win of his career, a complete game shutout at San Diego.

Personal

Smith has 3 daughters and lives near Atlanta. Zane enjoys listening to hard-rock music.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Zane 1960 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Anderson Braves players Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Wisconsin Boston Red Sox players Carolina Mudcats players Durham Bulls players Greenville Braves players Indiana State Sycamores baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Expos players Pawtucket Red Sox players Pittsburgh Pirates players Richmond Braves players Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin