A biography for John Smoltzhasn’t been written yet.
“Pitching for the Boston Red Sox proved to be one of the few challenges in my career that I was unable to overcome.”
“Going to the pen was something I had to learn to do. It wasn't something I wanted to do. If it made our team better, I was all in.”
“My family was upset when I told them I wanted to play sports. But that's what I wanted to do.”
“Tiger's redefined golf as a sport and made it athletic.”
“When you start having doubt, you start creating and atmosphere of 'things are going to go wrong,' and they will.”
“To be associated with the great Roberto Clemente - whom we all try to emulate - is the greatest honor of my career.”
“Everybody wants a piece of paper to work out the issues and how baseball should be played. Everything's a number. Everybody's got the answer.”
“I don't understand how a sport can play at least twice as many games as any other and not have the same schedule. It's mind-boggling to me. Don't play interleague leagues. Don't choose rivalries. Don't manipulate the schedule. Just play everyone the same.”
“As a pitcher, when you let go of the ball, what happens after does not always indicate how well you threw it. There are a lot of other factors. But when I finish a round of golf, I know that everything I did is all me.”
“Everybody in the world is going to know I played 20 years for the Atlanta Braves, but that doesn't change my broadcast.”
“What makes golf unique is that it's up to the integrity of each person to determine whether they want to apply the rules as they're meant, and that's why golf has always been known as the gentleman's game.”
“I'm very proud of what I did in the postseason.”
“I love to compete. I really do.”
“My first victory, I didn't think it could get much better with the excitement of family and friends who were there in Shea Stadium.”
“What we did in the era that we did, we take a lot of pride in it. We worked really hard and we didn't miss a lot of starts.”
“A lot of teachers' hands are tied, and I feel sorry for them, as well as coaches. They're giving their resources to trying to help children become adults, and obviously to educate them.”
“You'll never hear me say anything cocky or outlandish, but I always thought if I was starting Game 1 in the playoffs, then we were ahead 2-0 in the series because I would get at least that many starts.”
“When I got to Class A ball I realized I had a lot of time on my hands so I took up golf and fishing.”
“Those of you who know me know I haven't spent too many days thinking about getting in the Hall of Fame.”
“I want to encourage the families and parents that are out there to understand this is not normal to have a surgery at 14 or 15 years old.”