Being a baseball fan, and in particular a fan of the Braves even before they moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta; and being also a fan of Braves pitcher John Smoltz, who joined the team in 1989 and retired in 2009, all but the last of those 21 seasons spent with Atlanta, I could not resist listening to Jonah Keri’s interview with Smoltz.
Smoltz was an outstanding starting pitcher who became a fabulous relief pitcher, a closer, who eventually moved back to the starting rotation, where, again, he excelled. Smoltz was superb in both the regular season and the post-season. And because Atlanta was so good for so long—starting in 1991, the team won the division pennant 14 consecutive seasons—Smoltz effectively pitched an extra season over his long career. You can easily look up all of the statistics that demonstrate just how good, even great, he was.
