Cooperstown Bound
By JeromeFromDecatur:
In case you missed it between your ESPN hourly updates of Roger Clemens plunking Portland Sea Dogs in the back, John Smoltz just did something no one has done before.
Smoltz became the first pitcher in Major League Baseball History to win 200 games while also saving 150 games on Thursday night.
Its hard to compare what Smoltz did tonight to other pitching milestones. And therein lies the brilliance of Smoltz’s accomplishment. Literally, in this case, no one compares to number 29.
While Dennis Eckersley is remembered for being the modern era’s most dominant closer, he made the transition to the bullpen as a desperate last resort. After bouncing around the big leagues (five different teams) as a so-so starter, Eckersley was out of options.
Smoltz made the transition to the pen and back again and is arguably a better starting pitcher now. While “The Eck’s” career is certainly Hall of Fame worthy, it’ll always be defined by losing Game One of the 1988 World Series and giving up a game winning home run to a one-legged man.
Eckersley: Superior Only in Facial Hair
If Baseball Greatness is measured by how pitchers pitch in October, than no one is better than John Andrew Smoltz. Again, by no one, we mean no one.
Smoltz leads Major League Baseball in all time post season wins and strikeouts. Come clutch time, no one has done it more often or better than Smoltz. Why isn’t this statistic emphasized more? Why are baseball’s talking heads speaking tonight as if surprised that Smoltz will someday be in the Hall of Fame? Some of it has to do with Smoltz being surrounded by the relative greatness of Glavine and Maddux for years.
And some of it has to do the general public’s Braves Fatigue when it comes to the playoffs. And some of it has to do with the Tragedy that if Lonnie Smith had kept running in 1991, Smoltz, and not Jack Morris, would be remembered as the winner of the Greatest Baseball Game Ever Played.
The baseball spotlight will briefly shine on forty year old John Smoltz and his accomplishment, before it returns to the suspiciously muscular and angry, number three starter for the Trenton Thunder and the blog of political pundit/American Historian and sometime starting pitcher Curt Schilling. But John Smoltz will soldier on. He’ll be traveling with his team. He’ll take the ball when called upon. He’ll be pitching hurt. And down the stretch, when it matters most, he’ll be at his best.
But for those of us who’ve been paying attention, Smoltz’s brilliance won’t exactly be news.
JeromeFromDecatur
Braves Fan
