Player Info

John Smoltz

Career Highlights: Cy Young Award pitcher John Smoltz is best known for his prolific career with the Atlanta Braves where he earned eight MLB All-Star selections…Smoltz, who spent 20 years with the Braves, is the only pitcher in major league history to top both 200 wins and 150 saves…His best year with the Braves was in 1996 when he went 24-8 with a 2.94 ERA and 276 strikeouts (a Braves all-time record), including winning a franchise record 14 straight decisions…Smoltz won the National League Cy Young with 26 of 28 first-place votes…That season he set both the Atlanta Braves record for most wins in a season and led the National League in wins with 24….Counting his wins in the playoffs and All-Star Game, Smoltz amassed 29 wins in 1996, the only higher such total in the last 70 years is Denny McLain who had 32 in 1968…Predominately known as a starting pitcher, Smoltz spent three years as the team’s closer from 2002 through 2004 (following recovery from Tommy John surgery)…In 2002 he became only the second pitcher in history to have had both a 20-win season and a 50-save season (only with Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley)…He became the 16th member of the 3,000 Strikeout Club on April 22, 2008 when he fanned Felipe Lopez of the Washington Nationals…Smoltz holds numerous Atlanta Braves records including: most saves in a career (154); most saves in a season (2002, with 55); most strikeouts in a season (276); and most strikeouts in a career (3,011)…Smoltz won a World Series title with the Braves in 1995...Other accolades for Smoltz include: eight-time All-Star (1989, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2002, 2005, 2007), 1992 National League Championship Series MVP, 1997 Silver Slugger Award Winner for Pitcher and 2007 Branch Rickey Award for exceptional community service…Smoltz spent the 2009 season, the 21st of his major league career, in both Boston and Saint Louis…In his Cardinals debut on August 19, 2009, against the San Diego Padres, Smoltz went five innings, striking out nine and walking none, while setting a franchise record by striking out seven batters in a row…His career statistics include a 213-155 win-loss record, 3.33 ERA, 3,084 strikeouts and 154 saves…Currently Smoltz is a color analyst alongside play-by-play announcer Ernie Johnson and fellow analyst Joe Simpson for several Braves games on Peachtree TV.

Updated: June, 2011

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