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Thursday, May 24, 2007
No way Smoltz was losing this game
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
No way he lost this game. Not with Victory No. 200 awaiting him. Not with a 295-game winner opposing him. Not with the first-place Mets staring out at him. Put it this way: If each of his starts had carried these dynamics, he’d have won so many Cy Youngs that the pitcher’s prize would have been renamed the John Smoltz Award.
John Smoltz is among the handful of best big-game pitchers ever — Allie Reynolds, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson and Curt Schilling would figure in the discussion — and it’s significant that the biggest game of his life was a duel against the great Jack Morris that wasn’t decided until the Braves’ bullpen took over. The man has been money for a long, long time.
And now, 16 years after that historic Game 7, Smoltz has worked against Hall of Fame-bound ex-teammates four times in two months and hasn’t lost. He’s 2-0 against Tom Glavine, who beats everybody but the Braves, and 1-0 against Greg Maddux, who once beat everybody. Glavine and Maddux have been better over the courses of their careers than Smoltz, but no active pitcher save Schilling compares when it comes to seizing a moment. Not Clemens. Not the Big Unit. Not even Pedro.
It would be a stretch to call Smoltz the Michael Jordan or the Tiger Woods of baseball. It wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest Smoltz has a bit of Jordan/Tiger about him. Give Jordan the last shot and he’d make it. Give Tiger the lead on Sunday and he’ll hold it. Give Smoltz the ball and a point to prove and he’ll prove it. He competes harder and focuses more precisely when matched against the Mets or the Red Sox than when the Nats are on the docket.
He clinched the NL West on the penultimate day of the 1991 season, touching off the run of 14 division titles. He has been the winning pitcher in the deciding game of three playoff series, and he was the reason the Braves still had a prayer against Doug Drabek in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS. As deft as the artists Glavine and Maddux were, they were never quite the first choice on the most pressurized nights. That was always the more passionate Smoltz, was and still is.
Thursday night had an October feel to it, and October is Smoltz’s playground. He struck out the first two Mets, serving notice yet again. He escaped the third inning with help from first-base umpire Larry Young — David Wright was called out on the tiniest of swings — and there and then you knew: No way Smoltz was losing this game.
On cue, the Braves made every sort of play behind him. Kelly Johnson snatched back a run on a diving stop in the fourth — emotions running hot, Smoltz pumped his fist in salute — and Edgar Renteria ranged into the hole twice in the sixth. And then in the seventh, two on and one out, Smoltz induced forceouts from David Newhan and Jose Reyes. His part of the deed was done.
And this time, unlike in the Metrodome all those years ago, his bullpen held. The money pitcher won yet another money game, won No. 200 (to go with those 154 saves!), won again against his old teammate Glavine, won to bring the Braves within 1-1/2 games of first place.
The best big-game pitcher ever? “I’ll go with my guy,” Chipper Jones said. “He has a will to succeed in these situations that’s second to no one’s.”
As Jones spoke, the 200-game winner was screaming and gesticulating in the Braves’ clubhouse. Not even an hour after yet another milestone, his beloved Detroit Pistons were pulling out Game 2 against Cleveland. Said publicist Adam Liberman: “This has been a big night for you, John Smoltz.”
A big game. A big night. No way John Smoltz didn’t make it his.
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Here’s what I don’t think…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
In honor of Tom Glavine, who’s in town and who pitches tonight, I’m throwing a changeup. Instead of telling you what I think, here’s what I don’t think.
I don’t think Michael Vick will be indicted.
I don’t think the Hawks will spend the draft’s No. 3 pick on a point guard.
Neither, however, do I think they’ll come out of the draft without landing a point guard — though it might be a veteran acquired via trade for the No. 11 pick.
I don’t think the Braves will win their division.
Neither, however, do I think the Braves will miss the playoffs.
Should I be wrong about Vick and an indictment, I don’t think Roger Goodell will hesitate to suspend him for four games.
Given the speed with which baseball swooped down on Jason Giambi, I don’t think we’ll see anybody else admit he used steroids.
I don’t think it gets much sweeter for Tech people than winning the school’s first NCAA title on Georgia’s campus.
I don’t think Mark Redman was the answer.
I don’t think Mark Redman even understood the question.
I don’t think Joe Torre will last the season.
I don’t think Javaris Crittenton will be back.
I don’t think there has ever been a great team in any sport that has excited the masses less than the San Antonio Spurs.
If Mike Gonzalez can get an MRI every week, I don’t think he has the same health plan I do.
Permalink | Comments (105) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Quick Hit
