From Natchitoches to Cooperstown?

Welcome back to the Daily Demon blog. We are resurrecting our quaint little corner of the Internet after a too-long absence.

And we will do so with a post that initially may seem not too timely. Then again, neither were Lee Smith's sojourns from Major League Baseball bullpens to the mound.

Those here in Natchitoches remember Smith as a member of the Demons basketball team. The rest of the American sporting populace likely recall Smith as a leisurely strolling, hard-throwing closer for the Chicago Cubs and a number of other teams.

So why with baseball season a good four-plus months away from starting in earnest are we restarting this blog with a baseball-themed post?

It is because Smith is still on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, the 2015 version of which was released Monday by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Last year, Smith earned 29.9 percent of the vote. A minimum of 75 percent is required for election to the Hall.

In my former career as a sports writer, I had the chance to write a few stories detailing Smith's potential for election.

One national baseball writer compared Smith's current Hall track to that of Bert Blyleven, who made it into the Hall in his last year of eligibility on the writers' ballot.

Although it appears Smith's chances at reaching the quaint upstate New York hamlet of Cooperstown may seem slight, his numbers scream worthiness in my eyes.

Smith retired as the all-time saves leader -- a mark now held by Mariano Rivera. Anyone doubt Rivera's Cooperstown credentials?

The release of Michael Lewis' Moneyball made analytics a popular tool of the baseball trade more then a decade ago.

Four closers are in the Hall of Fame. Exactly one posted a better strikeout-to-walk ratio than Smith's 2.57-to-1 -- Rollie Fingers.

Smith is not likely to be invited to Cooperstown this July, but he already resides in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame here in Natchitoches.

Time spent listening to Smith's tales of the interactions between members of the 1980s Cubs would fill the 1,494-mile drive from Natchitoches to Cooperstown. Those I was privileged enough to hear would fill a reporter's notebook and a baseball fan's soul.

There may not be a Hall of Fame for such storytellers, but, if there were, Lee Arthur Smith would be in there on the first ballot.