John Smoltz
John Smoltz was the anchor of the Braves pitching staff for two decades, and though he wasn't usually the biggest star on the staff, he was a great pitcher and nearly always pitched his best in the postseason.
Smoltz first arrived in Atlanta in 1988 and made his first All-Star team in 1989, but his coming-out show was the 1991 playoffs. In the NLCS, he won both of his starts, including a complete game shutout in Game 7 to send the Braves to their first World Series in Atlanta, and he struck out 15 batters in his 15 innings of work. His ERA in the World Series was 1.26, but the Braves lost 1-0 in Game 7 after he was pulled in the 8th inning of a scoreless game.
His success continued into the next season, when he led the league in strikeouts for the first time, then performed even better in the postseason. Smoltz was named the NLCS MVP after winning two of his 3 starts and striking out 19 Pirates over 20 innings of work, with an ERA of 2.66. He also pitched well in his two World Series starts, helping the Braves fend off elimination in Game 5 before they fell to Toronto in the next game.
In the 1993 NLCS, he received his first postseason loss, despite not giving up an earned run, then had his only poor postseason run in 1995, the year that the Braves finally broke through and won the championship behind the great pitching of Greg Maddux. He would bounce back with his best season in 1996.
That year he won the Cy Young, breaking Maddux's streak at 4, leading the league with 24 wins and 276 strikeouts. He also set a franchise record with 14 straight wins during the season, then pitched even better in the playoffs, recording 33 strikeouts in 38 innings, while posting an ERA below 1.20 in all 3 playoff series, but they Braves fell to the Yankees in the title round.
He pitched well again in 1997, and was effective in 1998 and 1999 when he pitched, but he missed about a quarter of his starts to injury, and it culminated in him missing the entire 2000 season following Tommy John surgery. When he returned in 2001, he was ineffective as a starter, so he was installed as the team's closer.
In his first full season as the closer, he set the NL record for saves in a season with 55, and he spent the next 2 seasons as one of the best closers in the game. He also joined Dennis Eckersley as only the second pitcher ever to have a 20-win season and a 50-save season. After the 2004 season, he was put back into the starting rotation.
Smoltz recorded his 200th win in 2007, and his 3000th strikeout in 2008, both of which were notable. His 200th win came against Tom Glavine, his former teammate, and made him the only pitcher in history with 200 wins and 150 saves. The 3000th strikeout made him the 4th pitcher ever to reach that milestone with one team, joining Steve Carlton, Walter Johnson, and Bob Gibson.
When he retired, he had the most postseason wins of any pitcher in history, but he has since been passed by Andy Pettitte, so he now stands in 2nd place, just ahead of Greg Maddux. He was the only player who was with the Braves through all 14 of their record consecutive division titles, and pitched better in the postseason every season, with the exception of his championship season. Add it all together, and you have one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment