 A native of Jamestown in Bienville Parish in north Louisiana , Smith was scouted by Buck O 'Neil and drafted by the Cubs in the 1975 Major League Baseball Draft . Smith was an intimidating figure on the pitcher 's mound at 6 feet , 6 inches ( 1 @.@ 98 m ) and 265 pounds ( 120 kg ) with a 95 @-@ mile per hour ( 150 km / h ) fastball . In 1991 , Smith set a National League ( NL ) record with 47 saves for the St. Louis Cardinals , and was runner @-@ up for the league 's Cy Young Award ; it was the second of three times he led the NL in saves , and he later led the American League ( AL ) once while with the Baltimore Orioles in 1994 . He also set the major league career record for games finished ( 802 ) , and his 1 @,@ 022 career games pitched were the third @-@ most in history when he retired ; he still holds the team records for career saves for the Cubs ( 180 ) , and he also held the Cardinals record ( 160 ) until 2006 . 
