MLB Atlanta Braves

John Smoltz Should Be A First-Ballot HOF Lock

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For years, John Smoltz was a part of quite possibly the greatest trio of pitchers to ever suit up on the same team in MLB history when he played for the Atlanta Braves. Last year, Smoltz witnessed two of his closest friends and former teammates in Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, as well as his former coach Bobby Cox, get enshrined in Cooperstown.

When you look at Smoltz’s career numbers, a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection should be all but a sure thing. Smoltz pitched 21 seasons in the big leagues with 20 of them for the Braves. His 213 wins, 154 saves, 3084 strikeouts and 3.33 ERA are more than enough to warrant his entrance into the hall. Not to mention, he won the Cy Young award in 1996.

However, there have been some who have questioned whether Smoltz should be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer because he had to step down from the starting rotation due to injury to join the bullpen as a closer, which hurt his career wins and quite possibly his first-ballot chances.

If this is the case, certain voters should be stripped of their privileges and cast out of voting forever. While it may be a bit of a hyperbole, these sentiments are shared by many people who understand what Smoltz brought to the game of baseball and to the Braves organization altogether.

Blessed with a lively fastball and devastating slider, Smoltz constantly competed for the top spot on his own team with a bevy of talented pitchers the Braves kept on hand, especially the two previously mentioned in Maddux and Glavine.

Above all, Smoltz still performed at a high level and what he did in the postseason alone is a feat not many have accomplished. With a career record of 15-4 and an ERA of 2.67, Smoltz was revered by many pundits as one of the most dominating postseason pitchers of all time. As a matter of fact, his 199 career playoffs strikeouts are a major league record.

I could go on and on, but all you have to do is either turn on the tape or just ask a host of baseball purists, and a resounding yes would be given for those who truly understand how special it is for a player to dominate in three phases of the game the way Smoltz did. Going from starting pitcher to closer and then back to starting pitcher, all while performing at a high level, was an amazing thing to see.

To say Smoltz is deserving of this is an understatement, and the man should get his due when the 2015 class is announced.

Brandon Williams is an Atlanta Braves writer for www.RantSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter, @BfreshAlum4UA, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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