AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2008 > April > 22
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Smoltz feat worth witnessing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In case you hadn’t heard, John Smoltz needs four strikeouts tonight against the Nationals to reach 3,000, and I bet he’s good for it.
Not that I’m prepared to offer you your $40 back if he doesn’t get it (no, I’m not including the dog and beers), but if you’re in town, head out to the park will you?
Shoot, I’ve gotten e-mails from people who said they saw Smoltz’s first major league start in Shea Stadium 20 years ago (OK, one). And who could predict what a big deal that would be? This is a slam dunk - or so I’m predicting.
Smoltz is about to become only the 16th pitcher to ever reach 3,000.
It’s not necessary a Hall-of-Fame shoo-in number - ask Bert Blyleven - but it’s close enough. And actually, fewer players have reached this milestone than the big three Hall-of-Fame numbers: 23 players have won 300 games, 23 have hit 500 homers and 27 have 3,000 hits.
And you could see it tonight in person. I know you didn’t go to the game last night, so it wouldn’t be redundant. (Attendance was announced at 16,706 last night. It wasn’t the smallest crowd in Turner Field history, but it wasn’t far off.)
Weather.com says it’ll dip only into the mid-60s by the end of the game. Bring a sweater. So it’s the Nationals. All the better chance he’ll get there, right?
When’s the last time Smoltz didn’t have four strikeouts in a game? Last April 22 vs. the Mets at Shea. He had three in 5 2/3 innings.
But even when going only five innings in each of his first three starts this year because of his shoulder, Smoltz has strikeout totals of 6, 5, and 10. When Smoltz faced the Nationals two starts ago in DC, they didn’t have as many right-handers in the lineup (four) as Florida did (five) his last time out, but he still struck out five.
Smoltz was quick to point out all the righties in Florida’s lineup yesterday when he was in the midst of trying to downplay the likelihood he would roll up big strikeout numbers tonight. He said when he struck out 10 in Florida, he had a stiff wind in his face, which he says helps the break on his slider.
He said the way his shoulder is feeling, he doesn’t know how his “stuff” is going to be until he gets in the bullpen before the game.
(Maybe we should start a phone tree? I’ll get bullpen coach Eddie Perez to give me a call and tell me how Smoltz is looking before the game tonight, and I’ll get on the horn. Who’s first? I think I still have Gil in Mechanicsville’s number. Oops, he’s not exactly local.)
Smoltz said yesterday that he wasn’t trying to make a big deal out of this. Somebody on the blog said, then why should we? Listen, don’t believe him.
That’s his mind games, that’s how he keeps from putting more pressure on himself than he already does. Think he doesn’t want this? That’s how he deals with the expectations that come with hitting this kind of milestone when his shoulder isn’t 100 percent.
But even with the shoulder soreness, he’s still allowed only one run in 16 innings to win his first three starts. He’s only the fifth 40-something pitcher to do that in the last 50 years. (For those who missed it yesterday, Kenny Rogers was 3-0 last season, Roger Clemons was 7-0 in 2004, Nolan Ryan was 4-0 in 1990 and Phil Niekro was 4-0 in 1984.)
Let’s not kid ourselves, when it comes to Smoltz and big moments, when is the last time he didn’t deliver? Honestly, last time I remember is maybe Game 4 of the 1999 World Series and that was bigger than Smoltz. That was a Yankees’ buzzsaw.
Big moments for Smoltz are his feeding frenzy. His 200th win last year might not have seemed like it should be that huge a deal. But last year, when he got there on May 24 with a 2-1 win vs, the Mets, there was a magical feeling at the Ted.
Somehow it’s different with Smoltz. There’s something special about Turner Field, Braves fans and John Smoltz. Am I right? Maybe it’s because he’s the one guy left who has been there continuously from the start of this run. He’s never had a Glavine-like falling out with fans over union outspokenness, or wearing a Mets uniform. And he was always more open and engaging than Maddux.
Maybe it’s because he followed John Rocker as closer - going from a great talent who carried controversy around in his back pocket to a guy with more talent, who shines in the public eye.
Maybe the fans love him and relate to him because he lets his emotional guard down. He’s not afraid to show exactly how much it means to him to win.
Or perhaps it’s D) all of the above.
Look, not to be anymore sappy than I’ve already been here, but the guy turns 41 next month and we can’t count on having moments like these happen again and again.
And maybe with a little extra moral support tonight, Smoltz will push himself to get it. If he doesn’t get it tonight, Braves fans won’t get to see it at Turner Field, barring something unforeseen. It would happen Sunday at Shea Stadium.
While that would stink for me and a little pelting I might take on the blog (naw, would I?) that has its own symmetry too, doesn’t it? In the final season at Shea Stadium, Smoltz going back where he got strikeout No. 1 against Darryl Strawberry.
See Smoltz has a flair for the drama, one way or another. Might as well be a part of it.
Services »
