A biography for John Smoltzhasn’t been written yet.
“When something happens to a pitcher, whether it's mentally or physically, it's a lot more fun to do the things you want to do once that 'thing' clicks.”
“There is a transition that a pitcher goes through when he goes from the American League to the National League.”
“We've anointed people a little too quickly in this game. And they don't have the ability to wait and learn and have a fair shake at the game.”
“I never grunted, and never overthrew a pitch when I was a starter.”
“Becoming a Christian allowed me to find peace and become the pitcher I always knew I could be. I'd always had a strong arm; now I finally had a strong faith to match.”
“Yeah, I've never been afraid of any challenge, and I'm either all in or all out, because that's the mindset I've always had.”
“As a starter, you know when you're going to pitch. You prepare to pitch a certain day. As a closer, you wait to see if your team's going to put you in that position.”
“I did dream about pitching in the big leagues, but never getting to the Hall of Fame.”
“If I truly wanted to make the Hall of Fame selfishly, I'd have never left the bullpen. I just would have stayed there and gotten who knows how many more saves.”
“The way it is now, 75% of teams leave spring training with no chance to win, and no desire to win so they can build for the future.”
“When you're coming out of the pen, people are only gonna fear you if you're gonna get the job done, and if you're not, then you become a little more normal and people think there's cracks.”
“They said you'll probably get drafted between the first to third rounds. So, expect a phone call. Well, two weeks later, I got a phone call. The 22nd round wasn't something that indicated what awaited me during my career.”
“I had the best opportunity to play with two of the greatest pitchers in the game.”
“I'll play more golf during the season than I'll play in the off-season.”
“When you go into the minor leagues and you take a kid out after 75 to 90 pitches, what do you expect him to do in the big leagues?”
“I'm a battler.”
“I feel like every Hall of Famer who has been here and has a plaque had so many of those moments that they had to overcome to achieve something and appreciate their career.”
“You have to learn how to become your pitching coach, if you don't, you don't last.”
“In baseball I was able to emulate a lot of different things because I did it growing up, but I go about golf in my own unique way.”