57 Facts About John Smoltz

John Andrew Smoltz was born on May 15,1967, and nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves.

An eight-time All-Star, Smoltz was part of a celebrated trio of starting pitchers, along with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who propelled Atlanta to perennial pennant contention in the 1990s, highlighted by a championship in the 1995 World Series.

John Smoltz is the only pitcher in Major League history to record both 200 wins and 150 saves.

John Smoltz was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1992 NL Championship Series; Andy Pettitte later broke his record for career postseason wins.

John Smoltz led the NL in wins, winning percentage, strikeouts and innings pitched twice each, and his NL total of 3,084 strikeouts ranked fifth in league history when he retired.

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John Smoltz holds the Braves franchise record for career strikeouts, and the record for the most career games pitched for the Braves since the club's move to Atlanta in 1966; from 2004 to 2014, he held the franchise record for career saves and has the single season record.

John Smoltz left the Braves after 2008 and split his final season with the Boston Red Sox and St Louis Cardinals.

John Smoltz was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2015.

John Smoltz was an All-State baseball player at Waverly High School in Lansing, Michigan.

John Smoltz posted poor statistics in a dozen starts, but in 1989 Smoltz blossomed.

John Smoltz used a curveball and change-up on occasion, and in 1999, he began experimenting with both a knuckleball and a screwball, though he rarely used either in game situations.

John Smoltz admitted in 2016 that he never learned to throw sliders until he reached the Majors, nor does he recommend to children to throw sliders.

John Smoltz's winning ways continued into the 1991 National League Championship Series.

John Smoltz won both his starts against the Pittsburgh Pirates, capped by a complete game shutout in the seventh game, propelling the Braves to their first World Series since moving to Atlanta in 1966.

John Smoltz had two no-decisions against the Minnesota Twins, with a 1.

John Smoltz left the seventh game trailing, but ended up with a no-decision as the Braves mounted a dramatic ninth-inning comeback win.

John Smoltz again won 15 games, but suffered his first postseason loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS despite not allowing an earned run.

John Smoltz did avoid being tagged with any losses despite a 6.

John Smoltz would have been the Game 7 starter had the series gone that far.

John Smoltz won the NL Cy Young Award with 26 of the 28 first-place votes.

John Smoltz received a Silver Slugger Award for his batting, as he led all pitchers with 18 base hits.

John Smoltz continued to post excellent statistics in 1998 and 1999, but he was spending significant time on the disabled list and missed about a quarter of his starts.

In 1999, John Smoltz began experimenting with both a knuckleball and a three-quarters delivery, though he rarely used either in game situations.

John Smoltz underwent Tommy John surgery before the 2000 season, and missed the entire year.

In 2002, his first full season as a closer, John Smoltz set a National League record with 55 saves, topping the previous mark of 53 shared by Randy Myers and Trevor Hoffman.

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John Smoltz finished third in the Cy Young Award voting; Eric Gagne equaled his record a year later with the Dodgers.

In 2004, John Smoltz finished with 44 saves, but was frustrated with his inability to make an impact as a closer during another Braves' postseason loss.

John Smoltz had answered the critics who doubted he would be able to reach the 200-inning plateau after three years in the bullpen.

Nonetheless, John Smoltz's increased workload caused him to wear down toward the end of the season.

John Smoltz has the second-most postseason wins behind only Andy Pettitte with 19.

John Smoltz was one of four pitchers tied for the NL lead in wins, and was third in strikeouts.

John Smoltz pitched more than well enough for a 20-win season, but the Braves' bullpen blew six of his leads, on their way to being the single-handed cause of the end of the team's playoff appearance streak.

On May 1,2008, John Smoltz indicated that he intended to return to being a relief pitcher.

John Smoltz's contract expired at the end of the season, and the contract offer from the Braves was not sufficient to keep him.

John Smoltz impressed the Red Sox enough during the workout that less than a month later, a one-year contract was offered by the organization.

On January 13,2009, John Smoltz signed a one-year contract with the Red Sox for a reported base salary of $5.

In Game 3 of the 2009 NL Division Series, John Smoltz pitched two innings of relief in a losing cause, allowing four hits and an earned run while striking out five.

In 2008 and 2010, John Smoltz served as a color analyst alongside Joe Simpson for Braves games on Peachtree TV.

Nationally, John Smoltz has been an analyst for MLB Network and called regular-season and postseason games for TBS.

John Smoltz was paired with Matt Vasgersian and called games in the No 2 booth.

John Smoltz has joined Fox Sports South and SportSouth to be an analyst for select Braves games during the 2014 season.

John Smoltz replaced Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci, his colleagues from MLB Network, as the lead analyst for Major League Baseball on Fox for the 2016 season, teaming up with Joe Buck and Joe Davis.

In 2021, John Smoltz won his first Sports Emmy Award as an Event Analyst.

John Smoltz was forced to end his in-studio work for MLB Network after he refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, which is required for the company's employees.

John Smoltz was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2015.

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John Smoltz was the first starting pitcher since 1987 to be elected despite having fewer than 250 wins and only one Cy Young Award, the first such starter ever elected on the first ballot, and the first pitcher to have Tommy John surgery and be elected to the Hall.

John Smoltz met his first wife Dyan Struble at the Omni Hotel in downtown Atlanta; the couple had four children before divorcing in 2007 after 16 years of marriage.

On May 16,2009, John Smoltz married Kathryn Darden at his home with 70 friends and family in attendance.

John Smoltz is a good friend of pro golfer Tiger Woods; the two often play golf together.

Woods has stated that John Smoltz is the best golfer outside of the PGA Tour that he has seen.

John Smoltz plays every year in the American Century Championship at Lake Tahoe.

John Smoltz won the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in Orlando in January 2019.

John Smoltz is an accomplished accordionist and has starred in a television commercial for The Home Depot.

John Smoltz is a distant cousin of fellow Baseball Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer.

John Smoltz later stated the article had portrayed his quote inaccurately.

The 71st District encompasses Waverly Senior High School, where John Smoltz was an All-State baseball and basketball player.

John Smoltz is the Atlanta host for Big League Impact, an eight-city fantasy football network created and led by longtime Cardinals pitcher and former teammate Adam Wainwright.