Apr 22 2008
Smoltz stands alone in eyes of Braves Nation
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
ATLANTA — Seventeen summers ago, the 1991 Braves arrived at the All-Star Break on the verge of tumbling out of contention in the National League West.
Atlanta — which hadn’t sniffed a pennant race since 1983 — found itself nine and one-half games out of first place after the final series of the first half, a weekend set in which the Braves lost two of three games at division leader Los Angeles.
In his third full season in the Braves’ rotation, John Smoltz was on the verge of tumbling out of the major leagues. The hard-throwing right-hander had endured a nightmarish first half, and sat nine games below .500 at 2-11 following his final start before the break. He was one, perhaps two losses away from being demoted to Triple-A Richmond, not exactly the return on investment Atlanta envisioned when they shipped veteran Doyle Alexander to Detroit in 1987 for the young right-hander.
If you know your Braves history, you remember Atlanta turned things around in the second half of 1991, launching a magical run that pushed the Braves to Game 7 of the World Series. And how fitting that Smoltz, who went 12-2 during Atlanta’s second-half surge, toed the slab for that historic Game 7 duel with Jack Morris in the Metrodome.
As you know, neither the Braves nor Smoltz have looked back.
Tuesday night, Smoltz added another historic brushstroke to his masterpiece of a career, notching career strikeout No. 3,000 in the third inning of the Braves’ 6-0 loss to the Nationals at Turner Field.
So much has changed since Smoltz and the Braves stumbled out of Los Angeles and into the All-Star Break in July 1991: Four arm surgeries, a move to the bullpen, a move back to the starting rotation, a Cy Young Award, far less hair on top of his head, a full beard … and, oh yeah, the admiration of Braves Nation and all of baseball for the only player who has been with Atlanta since that 1991 season turned a city upside down and captured the attention of the sports world.
The term warrior is overused in sports lexicon today, tossed around far too often to describe feats far inferior to the word’s definition. That’s not the case with Smoltz. Arguably, there never has been a Brave who has willed more from his body and pushed himself to excellence for such a sustained period, regardless of injury and other factors (including the changing dynamics of his role on the team, the makeup of the roster and off-the-field challenges that include a divorce). Countless times, Smoltz could have walked away from the game, but his drive, desire and competitive fire have allowed him to carve out a place among the all-time greats.
Striking out 3,000 hitters speaks volumes of the right-hander’s longevity, effectiveness, and willingness as he’s grown older to use his slider and off-speed pitches more than his fastball. He’d have far more strikeouts were it not for the three seasons he spent as a closer – racking up 154 saves – and the time missed by injury. He’ll turn 41 next month, far removed from the struggling kid who lost in L.A. on that final weekend of the first half in 1991, hitting the break with a 5.16 ERA and wondering if the phone to Richmond was about to ring.
Let there be no doubt: Five years after he retires, the phone will ring and Cooperstown will be on the other line. Tonight, John Smoltz stands as the 16th member of the 3,000-strikeout club. For Braves fans, the bearded icon of this franchise’s run from laughing stock to powerhouse stands alone.
–30–
