John Smoltz - First Ballot Hall of Famer

John Smoltz can be considered one of the greatest pitchers in the history of major league baseball. In more than two decades with the Atlanta Braves, Smoltz collected 8 All-Star selections and 1 Cy Young Award. With more than 200 wins and 150 saves, John Smoltz is certainly in a class all to himself.

In this article, I plan on making the case for including him as one of the Top 10 players of all time. It is very hard to argue with his overall statistics and playoff performances.


John Smoltz - The Braves
When I was growing up, I was a huge Atlanta Braves fan. I can remember sitting in front of the TV watching players such as Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, Rafael Ramirez and Glenn Hubbard. This was a different era of baseball. No steroids... no performance enhancing drugs. Just great quality players getting paid to play a game they loved.

Unfortunately, we simply were not very good. In the late eighties, and early nineties, this all began to change with the addition of John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.

Smoltz made his first major league appearance in July of 1988. In 1989, Smoltz truly began what can only be called a sensational career. After compiling a record of 12-11, he was selected to his first All Star team. 1989 also saw a tremendous performance by Tom Glavine, another sure thing first ballot Hall of Famer.

After posting solid seasons from 1990 through 1995, Smoltz has his career season in 1996. Winning 14 straight decisions helped Smoltz finish with a 24 - 8 record, ultimately capturing his first National League Cy Young Award. In 1997, Smoltz had another marvelous season in which he even won the coveted Silver Slugger Award, proving that he could hit as well as pitch.

As a side note, Tom Glavine won that award in 1995, 1996 and 1998 helping the Braves to dominate that award for many seasons.

After being injured for part of each of the 1998 and 1999 seasons, Smoltz elected to undergo Tommy John Surgery which caused him to miss the entire 2000 season. In 2001, he simply was not fully recovered enough to be as completely dominate as he was used to being, so the Braves asked him to move to the bullpen. While the egos of most major league pitchers would have be a major distraction, Smoltz embraced this new challenge and became a dominate force as the Braves' new closer.

In 2002, John Smoltz set a National League record with 55 saves. In 2004, he again amassed a total of 44 saves, proving just how valuable of an asset he really was.

Unfortunately, as with all good things, one of the most dominate rotations in baseball finally broke up. Tom Glavine moved on to the hated New York Mets, while Maddux returned to his original club, the Chicago Cubs. Having no better options, Braves management decided to return John Smoltz to the starting rotation. In 2005, Smoltz was elected to the All Star club again, as a starter, finishing the season with 14 wins.

Smoltz continued to pitch well during the '06 - '08 campaigns, until an inflamed shoulder derailed his tremendous efforts. In June of 2008, Smoltz had season ending shoulder surgery that many people thought would end his amazing career.

What were the Braves thinking?
John Smoltz contract expired at the end of the 2008 season. The Braves simply did not offer him enough money for him to truly consider returning to the Braves for another season. Their pattern of irresponsibility continued recently with the tragic insult of releasing Tom Glavine (who had returned to complete his career with the Braves). They should have given him a chance to prove his worth instead of simply releasing him.

Enter the Boston Red Sox
It always seems that there is one team out there that truly understands what talent is. This time it was the Boston Red Sox. In late 2008, the Red Sox flew to Atlanta and watched Smoltz complete a ninety-minute workout. Observing glimpses of what made Smoltz the dominate pitcher that he is, the Red Sox quickly signed him to a one year deal worth $5.5 million.

I have to admit that I am extremely excited to see how Smoltz progresses over the next few months. While rehabbing his injured shoulder, Smoltz made a few appearances for the Greenville Drive, in Greenville, South Carolina (see picture above - image credits - http://christinemasonphotography.com). Even after pitching 20+ seasons, he is still an incredible pitcher. I wish him all the best and hope that he takes to Red Sox to the playoffs, which would be the best way to cap off a Hall of Fame career.

A Few of John Smoltz' Accomplishments

• Eight time National League All Star (1989, 1992-93, 1996, 2002-03, 2005, 2007)
  
• National League Cy Young Winner (1996)
• Amassed 29 wins in 1996 (second only in history to Denny McLain's 32 in 1968)
• Silver Slugger Award Winner ( 1997)
• National League Rolaid's Relief Man of the Year (2002)
• Only pitcher in history to win 200 games AND compile 150 saves
• 16th pitcher in history to strike out 3,000 batters
• Led Major Leagues in Saves (2002 - should have won the Cy Young Award again)

Conclusion
In my lifetime, there will never be another pitcher as great as John Smoltz. In fact, seeing as how Randy Johnson won his 300th game tonight, I doubt we will ever see another 300 game winner at all. As the game continually evolves, specialist start to become the norm instead of the exception. What made Smoltz great was his ability to dominate in whatever role his manager needed from him.

Besides being an outstanding player, he is an outstanding person; truly worthy of being included in the top 10 Greatest Players of All Time.

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