Pagnozzi gets save as banquet speaker

~ The former Cardinals catcher filled in for Lee Smith at Monday's event for Southeast baseball.

Lee Smith saved 478 games in his career, the second most by any player in history.

One of his former catchers earned the save Monday night.

Smith, the former closer for the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, was scheduled to be the featured speaker at the Joe Uhls Memorial Golf Tournament banquet, but he couldn't make the event. Instead, former Cardinals catcher Tom Pagnozzi stepped in as the featured speaker.

The tournament is the largest single-day fundraising event for the Southeast Missouri State baseball team, and is named for the university's legendary coach. Redhawks coach Mark Hogan was thankful Pagnozzi was able to fill in.

"Pags is such a wonderful guy," Hogan said. "If you're a friend of his, he's gonna do everything he can to come and help you. He's giving up his time. He came over here on Easter Sunday and has made a commitment to our program."

Pagnozzi, who was also the featured speaker in 2005, was pleased he could help out his friend.

"Whatever he [Hogan] needs," Pagnozzi said. "We made a commitment here. We have a friendship and that's very important.

"Lee Smith, we [Hogan and I] were at Cardinals fantasy camp, and he had heard us talking about it, and he's the one who said, 'Coach, I'll come down there.' It just didn't work out."

Pagnozzi is no stranger to the Southeast baseball program. He is a member of "Hogan's Heroes," the advisory committee of the Dugout Club, which donates money and helps raise funds for the baseball program.

"I'll be honest, I knew nothing about the university," Pagnozzi said. "It's about coach Hogan. When I met coach, I heard stories about him. I came down here and I met him at Cardinals fantasy camp and he's a baseball guy. You try to lend your hand to people like that."

Pagnozzi flew into Cape Girardeau from Fayetteville, Ark., on Sunday to help Hogan, a move that the coach appreciated. In his speech, Pagnozzi drew attention to Hogan setting the program's record for career wins, then pointed out that Hogan is also the coach with the most career losses at the university as well. Despite the joking, Hogan was all smiles after his friend's speech.

"He's the coolest guy in the world," Hogan said. "Tom makes it fun and he's an easy guy to get to know. He could easily be a Cape person. He's a Cape type guy. He's laid back and likes to have a good time. He's very generous."