Wow. Only 53 years old. This would be the first death from that '86 club, right? http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081217&content_id=3720365&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb HOUSTON -- Dave Smith, an Astros reliever from 1980-90 and a member of three Houston playoff teams, died Wednesday of a heart attack, according to a former teammate. Joe Sambito, also a former Houston reliever, confirmed to KRIV-TV that he was informed by a family friend that Smith, 53, passed away in San Diego. An investigator at the Medical Examiner's office of San Diego County told the television station his office is currently investigating the death of someone named Dave Smith. Smith, a two-time All-Star reliever with Houston in 1986 and 1990, finished his Astros career with 199 saves, second on the club's all-time career list behind Billy Wagner. Smith spent the 1991-92 seasons with the Cubs, the final two seasons of his big league career. He finished with 216 career saves.
Dave Smith was a very steady, very good pitcher. Sad to hear. Just randomly not too long ago thought of a radio commercial for "Break Cake" he did
199 saves and one infamous blunder that cost us the World Series... That said, 53 is way too young. R.I.P.
Before my time, but my Dad always used to complain about how he just couldn't beat the Mets. Never good to hear about somebody passing away.
I remember having his starting lineup figure as a kid. Growing up near Dallas I didn't get to see many Astros games and I always wondered what Dave Smith was like. I remember seeing a rare game on tv back in the day when Smith was called in to start warming up and one of his teammates had hidden his glove. The cameras followed him as he searched for it for a good seven minutes or so as the bench tried not to crack up. It's interesting to read that Smith was a laid-back California dude who liked to drink. Apparently Mike Scott nicknamed him "Arthur" after the Dudley Moore character.
