Jon Bois of SB Nation has a video series of “Pretty Good” sports stories, and his latest is of one of the more overlooked stars of the 1980s: Lonnie Smith.
Lonnie was a unique dude with a unique career. Not all of it good, of course. Three World Series rings. Could’ve had a fourth but for a big blunder he made when with the Braves. A wicked combination of speed and on-base ability. Some occasional pop. Serious adventurousness in the outfield, both for bad and good. He also had a cocaine addiction which nearly killed him a beef with Braves and Royals GM John Schuerholz that had him wanting to kill someone else and a comeback or three that no one ever would’ve thought possible.
All of this is packaged in a great, great video here. Enjoy if you have the time today: