In honor of their newest Hall of Fame inductee, the Cubs have announced that “Lee Smith Day” will take place Sunday, September 1, the 39th anniversary of the historic closer’s debut. The pregame ceremony will include remarks from Tom Ricketts, Len Kasper, Cubs alums, and Smith himself. Oh, and Big Lee will also be doing something he did only six times in his entire career (all with the Cubs, actually) when he comes to Wrigley on Sunday: he’ll be throwing out the first pitch of the game.
Smith played his first eight seasons — though he almost quit over not starting at one point — with the Cubs from 1980-87, tallying 180 saves with the ballclub.