I doubt seriously that John Smoltz, the Old Man on the Mound, will ever pitch another game in the major leagues.
This is one of those times when you shed tears from one eye while the other is nothing but a glowing orb of happiness. One of those times when one hand is smashing down on the table while the other is patting your back for having patience.
Yes, I have Rafael Soriano.
Soriano seemingly had lost his job on Monday when Smoltz was announced by Bobby Cox to be the new Braves closer. I had Soriano in but I figured that Smoltz had a couple of weeks before he was full-time. There was a good opportunity for a few rogue saves. When Smoltz came onto the field, and no one realized that it was him until he had stepped up on the mound, there was an immediate sense of immortality about the man. The crowd exploded. He stood proud. And then he threw one pitch at 95 mph. It was a pop-out. Jon and Joe both said almost simultaneously, “So far, so good.”
Then they went into their discussion about the three-quarter arm slot and about how he couldn’t rely on his split-finger pitch anymore. They talked on and on while the camera focused in on Smoltz’s face. If you watched the game, then you saw Smoltz’s agony at the moment. His face was red. His eyes had a panicked look. He started breathing heavy. It was then that I knew he was done. That 95 mph pitch killed him.
Lots of announcers are starting to hone in on one of the biggest problems in pitching. The young players have a tendency to overthrow, relying on their heat to get them by. Its part of the reason why we see so many pitchers wind up on the DL and the main reason that pitching is unpredictable. Smoltz, the Old Man on the Mound, made a rookie mistake. He wanted to show that his heat was still hot. And it was… 95 mph HOT! Most likely, it was probably hot enough to be career-ending.
All of you Votto owners who saw that blistering grounder on Sunday eat him up and smack him in the face; you noticed he never once touched his face where the ball had hit. If you had HDTV then you saw how red his face was. All of the announcers kept commenting on how tough Votto was and how that made him a great player, because even though it hurt he was tough enough to play on without touching where it hit. Well, add one more thing to the list that makes John Smoltz one of the greatest pitchers to ever step onto a field. He was tough, very tough.
On another note, congrats to you Lance for winning your week. I haven't been around much, but I wanted to make sure that credit went out to where credit was due. Keep it up, dude
