After three decades writing for major newspapers, I rank John Smoltz among my top 10 favorite athletes. I'm also a Baseball Hall of Fame voter, and he already has my checkmark next to his name. So his leaving the Braves as a free agent after 21 seasons is like a blow to the back of my head with one of his fastballs.
That said, it's time for everybody to take a deep breath and move on. For one, Smoltz is in a different place mentally as well as physically these days (and likely for his own good, which I'll explain in a moment). For another, icons have a tendency to vanish in Baseball, especially from a franchise known for tomahawks.
What do all of these folks have in common? Warren Spahn. Eddie Mathews. Hank Aaron. Phil Niekro. Dale Murphy. David Justice. Tom Glavine.
They were all John Smoltz before John Smoltz. They were all icons who never spent their entire careers with the Braves.
"In the old days, I thought Spahn, Aaron, Mathews, all of those guys would remain with the Braves forever, and I thought I would, too," Niekro said Friday from his Atlanta-area home. He spent the first 20 of his 24 years in the majors pitching for the Braves before his symbolic one-game retirement in a Braves uniform in 1987.
Added Niekro, "Nowadays, there's so much money on the table. When contracts are up, you become a free agent. It's more difficult now, I think, to stay with one team throughout. The toughest job for a general manager is to make these types of decisions. Who would say what we would do if we were in their position?"
Consider this: Except for Niekro and Justice, none of those Braves icons did much after they left either willingly or by force.
Smoltz will become another Niekro and Justice, though. Even at nearly 42, with a history of aches and pains, he is too competitive not to prosper with the Boston Red Sox. Which brings me to the primary reason I suspect Smoltz bolted: The Red Sox are exceptional. The Braves aren't, not after following their record 14 straight division titles with two third-place finishes before dropping to fourth last season.
It isn't coincidental that Smoltz holds the record in the majors for most postseason victories by a pitcher. He is obsessed with trying to win world championships. Despite Braves rosters that included future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, along with Cy Maddux, Cy Glavine and Cy Smoltz, his only World Series ring came in 1995.
This is Smoltz's best shot at grabbing another one before his arm finally drops from its socket.
You probably know about that money thing involving Smoltz's departure. Both the Braves and Red Sox offered a one-year contract with incentives that could reach $10 million or so. While the Braves mentioned a $2.5 million guarantee, the Red Sox promised $5.5 million.
"I've actually reached out to John, and I have not been able to contact him," said Braves CEO Terry McGuirk, suggesting that Smoltz wasn't seeking a Braves counteroffer --- thus my theory that it's about winning instead of money for Smoltz at this point of his career. Added McGuirk, "I consider him to be a wonderful guy and a good friend. I'd like to have thought I would have had a conversation with John before he would have lurched off into this direction."
It's a direction that Smoltz eventually wanted to go. So you should stop fuming over the situation.
tlmoore@ajc.com
