Jimmy Scott's High & Tight: The Zane Smith Interview

Not all lefties pitch forever.  That's how you would describe the end of former MLB pitcher Zane Smith's career.  He had just pitched a shutout for the Pittsburgh Pirates when he got the request to pack his things and leave.  Come to think of it, it wasn't a request.  After exactly 100 career victories, Zane's baseball career was over.

Major League Baseball policy, however, has always seemed to be quite supportive of those who see the world from the left hand side.  Zane, who had pitched in the post-season three different years (including a 0.61 ERA over 14 innings of work in the 1991 NLCS for Pittsburgh), had been told through his 13 seasons that lefties can pitch forever.  There is always a need for a guy like Zane Smith in baseball.  What team doesn't want a durable lefty who's won more than 15 games in a season twice?  In Zane's case, it turned out to be every team.

In his Jimmy Scott's High & Tight Interview, Zane talks about the steps he took, and those he didn't, toward finding work after what turned out to be his last season.  We hear what he's done for the past 13 years and how difficult it can be to break back in to Major League Baseball after you've been out for so long.  Zane Smith talks finances, agents, and reminices about his last post-season appearance, in the 1995 American League Division Series, pitching for the Boston Red Sox.  No, it wasn't triumphant.

It's time now for you to grill up some catfish, maybe prepare some biscuits & gravy, and listen to the Southern drawl of Mr. Zane Smith.  You're going to be pleasantly surprised.

THE MUSIC

Foo Fighters - Learning To Fly

Garbage - Right Between The Eyes

Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - All The Roadrunning

Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith

The Who - Emminence Front

The Eagles - King of Hollywood

The Cars - Moving In Stereo

The Police - Darkness

Sting - Saint Agnes & The Burning Train, I Miss You Kate

Alison Krauss & Union Station - Choctaw Hayride

Pete Townsend - Unused Piano (Quadrophenia)

Risky Business Soundtrack - Selections

Jerry Maguire Soundtrack - Selections