Home > Furman Bisher > Archives > 2008 > June > 06
Friday, June 6, 2008
John Smoltz’s career path will end at Hall of Fame
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s 514 miles from Glens Falls, N.Y., to Richmond. John Smoltz dragged out the trip to 14 hours in 1987. He was in no hurry. He was trying to sort things out, not easy for a 20-year-old who had just been traded by his hometown team, Detroit Tigers, to the Atlanta Braves. And for a grumpy old pitcher twice his age. John’s mind was in a tornadic whirl.
“I was crushed. Devastated. I’d been traded away by the only major-league team I’d ever expected to play for. I looked at it as a rejection,” Smoltz said. “I wasn’t good enough. They were unloading me. All sorts of thoughts were running through my mind.”
What Smoltz didn’t know was that Bobby Cox had had a scout named John Hegman tracking him for days. Cox was still general manager, and the Braves needed a young pitcher with a future, not Doyle Alexander, 36, and in the twilight of his career. Cox himself had taken a look at young Smoltz. It was no quick decision. The Tigers needed a pitcher to finish off their pennant run. Worked out well. Alexander won nine times, the Tigers won their division, but alas, lost in the playoffs. For the Braves, though, it was like striking a gusher.
On his way to Richmond, Smoltz was still churning the positives and the negatives in his mind. “I had time for a lot of self-examination. Had I failed? Wasn’t I good enough? I’d been told so many times you can’t do this, you can’t do that. Was this another time?
“The closer I got to Richmond, the better I began to feel. Then I saw the new ball park [the one the Braves are abandoning now], and it looked big league to me, a big change from the old park in Glens Falls. My outlook improved right away.”
There was no full-time pitching coach at Richmond, so Smoltz was “mainly on my own,” as he put it, “changing from one delivery to another.” Then Leo Mazzone came in and said, “Just throw naturally and we’ll start from there.”
He ripened into a winner in his second season at Richmond, 10-and-5 and a call-up to the Braves, and from that time since he has been an express running the main line. That is, allowing for all those physical interventions. From 1999 to 2002 his record looks like one train wreck after another. All told, including his recent appointment in surgery, he has been on the Braves’ disabled list nine times, but still he toils on and looks ahead. Sadly, his last appearance at Turner Field resulted in a horrid statistic that has come to be known as BS (blown save).
Without any fear of stretching truth, I’d say that the deal made for Smoltz has been the most productive in the modern history of the Braves. He has won 210 games, saved 154, struck out over 3,000 batters, and won 15 times in postseason play, not to mention having driven in 60 runs with his bat. All of this puts him on the front burner for a seat in the Hall of Fame, and seldom is his name mentioned without the signature introductory “Hall of Famer” John Smoltz. There is a tendency to become too careless with such crowning glory. In Smoltz’s case, there are negatives: He has had only one 20-win season. The “save” category is not one that impresses all balloteers. Surely if Bruce Sutter can be elected, John Smoltz should be a walk-in, no matter if he never delivers another pitch.
Whether he will or not is pure speculation. His poor tattered arm has been explored and stitched and re-stitched and reconstructed so many times it’s amazing it’s still attached. Throughout it all, the most amazing thing is that John has gone from starter to reliever and returned to starter and was ready to return to relieving again when the bell tolled this time. I shall quote from a man who should know, Dennis Eckersley, who said that going from starter to reliever, that’s one thing. But then going back to starting after relieving and checking in with three winning seasons,
“Outrageous.”
This time, the clock is ticking.
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment | Categories: Braves/MLB
