FORT MYERS, Fla. – After 15 years, Joe Smith is 168 games away from his goal.
When the reliever was growing up, the dream was always to make it to the big leagues. So when he did that in 2007, he decided he needed to set a new aim for himself. Pitching in 1,000 career games seemed as good of a focus as any.
"I prided myself on this: Whenever I'm available, I try to take the ball," Smith said Sunday. "I can't believe I'm going to be 38 in two days, and I'm still throwing a ball. It's a lot of fun. I love it."
