Smith to teach hitters a few more lessons
Published on April 27, 2004 under Northern League (NL)
Winnipeg Goldeyes News Release
He may spend most of his time in gym class, but Donnie Smith is returning with his eyes on making history.
Goldeyes president & CEO Sam Katz announced today that Smith will be back for a sixth season with his hometown club. One of the longest-serving Fish, he needs to pitch in just 16 games to become the club's all-time appearances leader.
"Donnie has been around long enough to earn a place in the record books for good reason," Katz said. "Regardless of the situation, he's not afraid to take the ball when it's handed to him and pitchers like that are hard to come by."
A full-time teacher by day, Smith's 138 games in a Goldeyes jersey are second to Dan Guehne (153) on the club's all-time pitching list. As well, he needs to pitch in just four more games to crack the Northern League's top five in all-time appearances and could very well surpass George Schmidt (141), Barry Nelson (150) and John Duffy (154) to end up third all-time by season's end.
"Donnie has done a great job since he joined us," said manager Hal Lanier. "He's a guy you can use as a closer or as a set-up man. He's also one of the guys that can come in and strike somebody out when we need a big strikeout. He's very valuable from our standpoint because he can do a lot of things."
Smith, 30, was 2-4 with a 3.98 earned run average and two saves in 36 appearances last season, fanning 38 in 31-plus innings while walking just 14. He also kept opponents to a feeble .223 batting average.
After getting off to a slow start last year that saw him 1-3 with a 6.07 ERA at the end of the first half, Smith was brilliant from then on. His ERA in 19 second-half appearances of 2.45 lowered his season mark by more than two points.
He kept it up in the playoffs, leading all pitchers with seven appearances, including all five first-round games vs. St. Paul. He also tossed a playoff-best seven-plus innings of shutout ball, allowing just three hits while fanning six.
Northern League Stories from April 27, 2004
- RedHawks sign pitchers Culp, Bess - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
- Smith to teach hitters a few more lessons - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- WJOB AM 1230 Partners with T-DUB and the RailCats - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Flyers Sign Pitching Ace Brett Gray - Schaumburg Flyers
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