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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Smith, Baseball’s Career Saves Leader, California Enjoy Winning Alliance

Associated Press

Lee Smith didn’t know what he was getting into when he signed as a free agent with the California Angels last winter.

The 37-year-old Smith, baseball’s career saves leader with 452, joined a team that had a mix of proven players and talented youngsters, a team that despite a 47-68 finish during the strike-shortened 1995 season, had potential.

“It’s a good feeling to be plugging along at 37,” he said. “And winning makes it feel considerably better.”

And with Smith’s help, the Angels have even exceeded that promise. California has an A.L. Westleading 31-20 record. Smith has 18 saves hasn’t allowed a run in 18 innings.

He rewrote his own major-league record - 17 consecutive saves with St. Louis in 1993 - by pitching a perfect ninth inning Tuesday night to preserve California’s 3-2 victory over Kansas City.

“I know when I was with Baltimore last year, when we talked about playing the Angels, about all we talked about not letting Chili Davis beat you,” Smith said. “Now there are a lot of guys here who can beat you.

“Young players like Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds, J.T. Snow, Gary DeSarcina, Garret Anderson, and the veterans like Spike Owen, the bench players, they’ve all been doing the job.”

Anderson, a rookie outfielder, played a particularly important role in Smith’s 18th consecutive save. Anderson threw out Pat Borders at the plate to save a run in the seventh inning, then made a backhand, over-the-shoulder catch of leadoff hitter Gary Gaetti’s drive to deep left in the ninth.

“Lee can’t go out there every night and strike everybody out, so it’s good to make some plays behind him,” Anderson said.

“If Garret Anderson hadn’t made that throw in the seventh inning, we’d still be playing,” Smith said. “And if he hadn’t made that catch in the ninth, we might still be.

“When I saw it (Gaetti’s fly), I thought double, at least a double,” the reliever said. “His (Anderson’s) back was to me and I was watching and didn’t know what happened. Then I saw that he had caught it. That could have been trouble, since Gaetti was the leadoff hitter.”