“I’ve come back from so much, I’ve worked so hard that I’m not going to concern myself with being the prisoner of an environment. I’ve been here 19 years, so the overwhelming feeling is, ‘They’ll never get rid of you.’ But after every single year, I’ve had to work 10 times harder just to work this out.
“All I know is, after these last two years and with my desire to work out, I’ve got two or three more years, easy. I used to always be of the mind-set that, ‘If it’s not here, it won’t be anywhere else.’ But that’s not the case any more. I’ll pitch somewhere else.”
I've always admired John Smoltz. He came to the Braves back in 87 or 88 in a trade with the De-Troit Tigers for crusty veteran Doyle Alexander. Doyle helped the Tigers win their division, but he and the team crashed and burned in the playoffs. He never was "worth a toot" afterwards. The young rookie who he was traded for. How did he do? Closing in on almost 200 wins; Cy Young Award Winner; closer extraordinaire with beaucoup saves; a starter again; 4 arm surgeries; thinks he has 3 years left; a positive influence in the clubhouse and community; the best winning percentage among post-season pitchers; and most wins in p.s. history; later.
Seems the Bravos got the better of the deal
All he's asking now is whether the Braves will pick up his contract for 2007. For a cool $8 million. A bargain in today's market. A few years ago he turned down over $3 million a year from the Yankees to stay with Atlanta.
Give the boy his contract. Fork the policy. [ wait til the season's over ] Sign the boy!
Cos it's 1, 2, 3 strikes yer out, v.c.
P.S. At the old ball game.
P.S.S. The second picture in tonite's montage is the villian in our story. He's the General Manager [ brass ] And he won't decide on John's contract for next year until the season's over. The boy has busted his ass for the team. Plus, most importantly, he's done a damn good forkin'job in 3 decades. Sign him!!!!!!!!!!!
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