Smith, a left-handed pitcher, played collegiately at Indiana State University. He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves 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 on July 2, 1989 for Sergio Valdez, 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 and Moisés Alou. The trade allowed the Pirates to hold off the New York Mets down the stretch and win the National League 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 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.
Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
January 31, 2023
zane, smith, baseball, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, especially. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately especially if potentially libelous or harmful Find sources Zane Smith baseball news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Zane William Smith born December 28 1960 is a former American professional baseball player Zane SmithPitcherBorn 1960 12 28 December 28 1960 age 62 Madison Wisconsin U S Batted LeftThrew LeftMLB debutSeptember 10 1984 for the Atlanta BravesLast MLB appearanceJuly 5 1996 for the Pittsburgh PiratesMLB statisticsWin loss record100 115Earned run average3 74Strikeouts1 011TeamsAtlanta Braves 1984 1989 Montreal Expos 1989 1990 Pittsburgh Pirates 1990 1994 Boston Red Sox 1995 Pittsburgh Pirates 1996 Contents 1 Career 2 Highlights 3 Personal 4 References 5 External linksCareer EditSmith a left handed pitcher played collegiately at Indiana State University He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves 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 on July 2 1989 for Sergio Valdez 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 and Moises Alou The trade allowed the Pirates to hold off the New York Mets down the stretch and win the National League 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 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 EditOn 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 Pena to end Game 1 of the 1995 American League Division Series On June 7 1996 Smith recorded the 100th and final win of his career a complete game shutout at San Diego Personal EditSmith has 3 daughters and lives near Atlanta 1 Zane enjoys listening to hard rock music 2 References Edit Jimmy Scott s High and Tight The Zane Smith Interview Archived from the original on September 3 2011 1987 Topps 544 Zane Smith The Trading Card Database www tradingcarddb com Retrieved 2017 08 30 External links Edit Biography portal Baseball portalCareer statistics and player information from Baseball Reference or Baseball Reference Minors Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Zane Smith baseball amp oldid 1133643939, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
