John Smoltz
John Smoltz
John Andrew Smoltz, nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke," is an American former baseball pitcher who played 21 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 one 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. He won the National LeagueCy Young Award...
deal game gone history incredible joey player
Joey Devine has such an incredible upside. I don't know any player in the history of the game that has gone through what he did. His personality will deal with it.
basically bulk certainly compete depended few great level mistakes overcame past players rely superstars talent undoing work
Certainly we can't rely on past formulas. Basically we depended on superstars to do the bulk of the work, but now that work has to be done by many players or we're not going to be able to compete at the level we're used to. In the past the talent of a few great players overcame our inefficiencies, but those mistakes were our undoing in the postseason.
basically bulk certainly compete depended few great level mistakes overcame past players rely superstars talent undoing work
Certainly we can't rely on past formulas, ... Basically we depended on superstars to do the bulk of the work, but now that work has to be done by many players or we're not going to be able to compete at the level we're used to. In the past the talent of a few great players overcame our inefficiencies, but those mistakes were our undoing in the postseason.
famous followed ingrained player score
It's just ingrained into a player now. It's more famous here than anyplace else in the world, ... The only thing about it here is it's followed by, 'Let's score some runs!'
against game head hear high likes played player plays regard respect talk uniform wear
I respect him as a player that I've played against about as much as anybody. That's a high regard when you talk about the likes of who I've played against. He plays the game right, plays with his head and you never hear anything about him bad. I think he's going to wear our uniform about as well as most have.
change coaches credit future game kids nine players playing respecting room seen teach ways
For the most part, we've had change of nine to 10 to 12 players every year, so there's always room to play for the future of the Braves, ... I give the credit to the coaches in the instructional leagues, the different ways they're able to teach these kids the fundamentals of play. Playing the game is one thing. They've done that all their life. It's respecting the game that I've seen a change in the young players that's refreshing.
battle gets
It gets old when you battle your butts off,
draw happy momentum playing road start teams three
I said at the start of this road trip, if we can take two out of three and kill the momentum of the teams we're playing with, that's going to help. Certainly, we didn't want to draw it up this way, but it had a happy ending.
looking tested
I was looking forward. It was brutal. I was tested to the max.
everybody figure
Just like everybody else, he's going to have to go through it. You've got to figure it out yourself. It's what everybody has had to do.
cannot feeling focus mound
I take the mound with the focus that is we cannot lose. I've had that feeling for a long time. That's the feeling you want to have as a pitcher. Find a way, any way, battle.
beat certainly game hooked last thoughts time
My thoughts are I better be on my game. I think Game 4, the last time we hooked up in the World Series, he certainly was on his, and he beat us.
contain fun games latter learned
The anticipation is what kills me, ... I have more fun in these games than I have in any game I pitch. The issue's going to be will I be able to contain that adrenaline. I learned how to do that in my latter years.
easy protect
That's the way I am. The easy thing to do is protect yourself and not go out there, but that's never been me.