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John Smoltz

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John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967 in Detroit, Michigan) is a Major League Baseball player. He is predominantly known as a starter and former Cy Young Award winner; however, late in his career, in 2001 he became a closer, a role he is no longer serving. In 2002 he became only the second pitcher in history to have both a season with 20 wins and a season with 50 saves (the other being Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley). Smoltz is also one of only two pitchers with 150 wins and 150 saves (the other again being Eckersley). Smoltz throws a four-seam fastball that tops out in the low- to mid-90 MPH range, a 91 MPH slider that has long been considered one of the best in the league, and a 92 MPH split-finger fastball that he uses as a strikeout pitch. He mixes in a curveball and change-up on occasion as well. In 1999, Smoltz began experimenting with a knuckleball, but he rarely uses it in game situations today. In 2006, Smoltz indicated that the change-up would become a bigger part of his repertoire.

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Early career

John Smoltz was an All-State baseball and basketball player at Waverly High School in Lansing, Michigan before the Detroit Tigers drafted him in the 22nd round of the 1985 amateur draft. He was the 574th selection of the draft. He would have been drafted higher, but concerns that he would attend Michigan State University, to play basketball, warned many teams from drafting him.

Smoltz made his Major League debut on July 23, 1988. Granted the opportunity to make 12 starts that season, Smoltz did not fare well, finishing with a 2–7 record and a 5.48 ERA.

The trade

Before his debut, Smoltz developed in the Detroit farm system for a few years until August 12, 1987 when he was traded to the Atlanta Braves. On that date, the Tigers and New York Yankees were chasing the Toronto Blue Jays for the division lead. In need of more pitching help, Detroit sent their young prospect, Smoltz, to the Braves for proven veteran Doyle Alexander. Alexander responded by pitching the best baseball of his 19-year career going 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA down the stretch. Detroit overtook Toronto narrowly winning the division but Tigers fans have not celebrated since: The Tigers were beaten easily by the Minnesota Twins in the playoffs, Alexander retired two years later, and the franchise degenerated from playoff-caliber to average, to below-average and eventually into the worst franchise in the Majors.

On the other side of the trade, Smoltz would become a likely Hall of Famer for a 14-time division winning team while winning five pennants and the Braves' first championship in 38 years.

Best years

Early Years

In 1989, Smoltz had the first of what would be many exceptional seasons at the Major League level. In 29 starts, he recorded a 12–11 record and 2.94 ERA while pitching 208 innings. Together with teammate Tom Glavine, who also had a break-out year in 1989, there was plenty of reason for optimism about the future of Atlanta's pitching staff.

Smoltz made his first of many postseason appearances in 1991, pitching well in a losing cause. He pitched a complete game shutout in the 7th game of the 1991 National League Championship Series, propelling the Atlanta Braves to their first World Series ever. In the 7th and deciding game of the World Series that year, he was the starter, facing his former Detroit Tiger hero, Jack Morris, who was starting the game for the Minnesota Twins. While Morris had one of the most memorable pitching performances in World Series history, pitching 10 innings of shutout ball in the Twins' Series winning victory, Smoltz matched him for seven innings, being taken out in the 8th inning with no runs allowed. The next year, Smoltz was the MVP of the 1992 National League Championship Series, winning 2 games and also keeping them in the 7th game, which the Braves eventually won in dramatic fashion. Over his postseason career, he has a 12-4 record and 2.72 ERA as a starter (14-4 overall). He has more postseason career wins than any other player in history. The Braves won the World Series in 1995 – but with little help from Smoltz, who had the worst postseason of his career.

Before the 1993 season the Braves signed renowned control pitcher Greg Maddux, completing what many consider to be the most accomplished starting trio ever assembled on a single Major League team. During the period of 1991 to 1998, Smoltz, Maddux and Glavine won seven National League Cy Young Awards (six with Atlanta – Maddux won in 1992 with the Chicago Cubs). All three are strong possibilities for the Baseball Hall of Fame, with Maddux a certainty and Glavine not too far behind.

Smoltz's best personal year came in 1996, when he went 24–8 with a 2.94 ERA and 276 strikeouts. He won the National League Cy Young with 26 of the 28 first-place votes.

Move to the bullpen

Adjustments to convert Smoltz from a starter to a closer began in 2001 after several seasons of increased fatigue and fewer innings pitched, culminating in Tommy John surgery during spring training prior to the 2000 season.

During his recovery, Smoltz began work on another project for the Atlanta community. As a father of four children, he dedicated himself to the development of a new parochial school in the metropolitan Atlanta region. "Building a school takes an incredible amount of time. In one sense, I'd rather have another surgery on my arm than go through all this again."

In his first full season as a closer, in 2002, Smoltz broke the National League saves record with 55 saves (the previous record was 53; Eric Gagne would equal Smoltz's new record the next year). In 2003, injuries limited Smoltz to 45 saves but he posted a minuscule 1.12 ERA – only 8 ERs in 64.3 innings pitched.

Return to the rotation

In 2005, Smoltz returned to the starting rotation. The change in roles came as a result of the Atlanta Braves losing starting pitchers Paul Byrd to the Anaheim Angels, Russ Ortiz to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Jaret Wright to the New York Yankees, and the acquisition of reliever Danny Kolb, who was the closer for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2003 and 2004 (Kolb was ineffective in 2005 and lost the closer role to Chris Reitsma, who was eventually replaced by mid-season acquisition Kyle Farnsworth). Smoltz had also lobbied for a return to the rotation since his conversion to closer, citing evidence by his doctors that starting games would be less stressful on his pitching arm (the idea is because of the required velocity of a closer than in a starting pitcher, which requires less strain because of the expectations of 100 pitches against 15-20 in a game.

Smoltz's revived career as a starter began inauspiciously. He allowed six earned runs in only 1 2/3 innings--matching the shortest starts of his career--as the Braves were blown out on Opening Day by the Florida Marlins. Because of poor run support, Smoltz would lose his next two decisions despite pitching well. After these initial difficulties, things would fall into place. At the All-Star break, Smoltz was 9-5 with an ERA of 2.68, better than his career average. As a result, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa selected Smoltz as a member of the 2005 NL All-Star team. Smoltz gave up a solo home run to Miguel Tejada in the second inning of the American League's 7-5 victory and received the loss. He is 1-2 in All-Star games, putting him in a tie for the most losses.

Smoltz finished the '05 season 14-7 with a 3.06 ERA with 169 strikeouts while allowing only 210 hits in 229 2/3 innings. Before the season began, many questioned whether Smoltz would be able to reach the 200 inning plateau in his return to the rotation. While the number of innings he logged during the season was impressive, it caused him to wear down towards the end of the season.

Still, even with a sore shoulder, Smoltz, revered in baseball circles as one of the game's fiercest competitors, soldiered on, and pitched a gem in the Braves' 7-1 win over the Houston Astros in Game Two of the NLDS, the only game the Braves would manage to win in the four game series against the eventual National League champions.

Smoltz won a championship with the Braves in 1995 but also lost four World Series (with the Braves in 1991, 1992, 1996 and 1999) which ties him with Glavine and Roger Clemens for tops among active players.

Smoltz is a born-again Christian who has made Atlanta his home, and is Chairman of the Board at Alphraretta-based King's Ridge Christian School (http://www.kingsridgecs.org/). Smoltz is a member of the Presbyterian Church in America.

Accomplishments

Teams

External links

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