With Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine
being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, it is only fitting that
John Smoltz, the third member of Atlanta’s Big Three, followed last Sunday.
The difference with Smoltz as
compared to his Braves’ teammates, is that he was as great a relief pitcher as
he was a starter.
Smoltz was born in Warren,
Michigan, and when the 1985 Amateur Draft came around, it was the Detroit
Tigers who selected him, albeit in the 22nd round, 574th
pick overall.
He pitched in the Tigers’ minor
league system for two years before being involved in a trade. The Tigers were
in the midst of a division title race with the Toronto Blue Jays and New York
Yankees and needed some help in their rotation. The Tigers sent Smoltz, 20
years old at the time, to the Braves for Doyle Alexander. While Alexander did
help Detroit win the division, he was out of baseball by 1989.
Smoltz pitched for the Braves
from 1988 until 2008. He was an eight-time All Star and won the Cy Young award
as the National League’s best pitcher in 1996.
Over a span of nine years
(1991-99) that included eight post seasons (the 1994 strike cancelled the
playoffs) the Braves made it to the World Series five times, although they only
managed to win one championship (1995).
After numerous trips to the
disabled list in 1998 and 1999, Smoltz underwent elbow surgery prior to the
2000 season and didn’t pitch the entire year. When he returned to the team in
2001, he didn’t have the effectiveness of previous years and it looked like his
career might be over.
However, Braves’ manager Bobby
Cox put Smoltz in the role of closer after John Rocker was dealt to the
Cleveland Indians late in the season. And in 2002, Smoltz first complete season
as Atlanta’s closer, he broke the National League record by saving 55 games.
Over the next two season, he recorded 45 and 44 saves but wanted to return to
the starting rotation for the 2005 season.
Smoltz would win 44 games as a
starter between 2005 and 2007, but injuries would resurface in 2008. Although
he would pitch several games for the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals,
his best days were behind him.
He would end his career with 213
wins (210 with Atlanta) and 154 saves. He added another 15 victories in the
postseason (including a 7-0 record in the Division Series) and four saves.
Smoltz would have his number
(29) retired by the Braves during the 2012 season.
His induction to the Hall of
Fame cements his status as one of the best pitchers of the last 25 years.
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