Top 5 Hall Of Fame: Lee Smith

Tomorrow, the Hall of Fame will induct 6 new members into its hallowed halls. In honor of this event, I'm going to do a daily series this week showing off my 5 favorite cards in my collection for each player.

We wrap up this week of celebration by paying tribute to the only former Boston Red Sox player elected this year. Lee Smith was the king of saves before saves were cool. When you retire as the all-time leader in a statistic, you usually don't have to worry about being overtaken in that stat before you reach the end of your time on the Hall of Fame ballot. Not only did Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Riva leapfrog him, they blew far past him - becoming the only two relievers with 500 then 600 saves. I think the great divide between Hoffman's 601 saves and Lee's 478 made Smith's accomplishments seem minuscule by comparison. Perhaps that is why he only got in by the grace of the Veteran's Committee. On last time, I present these in chronological order:

1990 Bowman #263 Lee Smith

Smith had a reputation for being an intimidating pitcher on the mound. I don't think many opposing batters ever got to see this smile from him.

1991 Topps #660 Lee Smith

Horizontal cards always seem to work better with pitching over hitting. This is a great well framed shot of Smith in action.

1991 Upper Deck #348 Lee Smith

Going back to the intimidation factor, I'm pretty sure the sight of an angry Lee Smith was enough to shake the bravest of hitters.

1992 Score #781 Lee Smith (AS)

I have always liked these caricatures that Score did in 1992. 

1992 Topps #565 Lee Smith

Tell me I'm wrong, but this photo right here deserves to be reincarnated as a Stadium Club card. It's such a great angle. Topps gave Lee Smith some great cards in the early 90's!

Congratulations to Lee Smith! Welcome to the Hall of Fame!