Atlanta Braves Let John Smoltz Walk in Another Missed Opportunity

Atlanta Braves fans thought he'd be the last man standing.

One of the most beloved athletes in Atlanta sports history would surely end his career in the Braves familiar red and blue.

They have Chipper Jones, the true southerner, playing third base with a drawl and a penchant for pickup trucks and hunting. Many Braves fans can relate to him and love him accordingly.

Tom Glavine was always well-liked, but was forced to leave under difficult free-agency circumstances, though he eventually returned to Atlanta last season. Glavine was always a paint the corners kind of pitcher. He, at times, seemed content to quietly stand on the mound and do his job. He wasn't a brash strikeout artist.

Baseball fans love strikeout pitchers. And Braves fans loved theirs.

With a hard fastball, a slider, and a devastating split-finger fastball, Braves fans, for 20 seasons, have watched Smoltz challenge hitters and often get the best of them. After particularly tough matchups, the famous clenched fist of Smoltz, never one to hide his emotions, would always lead Turner Field to erupt.

And who could forget his coming out party? After a 2-11 start in 1991 and meetings with a sports psychologist, he went 12-2, leading the previously undisputed worst franchise in baseball to the World Series, capped by the epic Game Seven pitching duel against the Minnesota Twins' Jack Morris.

In what is arguably the greatest game ever played, the old-timer Morris outdid Smoltz that night, pitching into the 10th inning to secure the 1-0 championship-clinching victory.

However, on Thursday as Atlanta residents were just getting over losing some of the local college kids up the street in Athens to the pro game, they turned on their radios and switched on the TVs to hear that the beloved Smoltz had agreed to sign with the Boston Red Sox.

And the player who had been through it all and seen it all since the very beginning of the famous Atlanta Braves run was gone. He'd had chances in the past to leave, turning down more money elsewhere, but he always stayed in town and perhaps Atlanta fans began to take that for granted.

Surely, they thought, the Braves would offer him a reasonable salary and bring him back one last time, needing him more than ever with all their questions surrounding the pitching staff.

Yet, as the sun rose on Thursday morning that proved to be inaccurate. General Manager Frank Wren had deemed Smoltz worth no more than $2 million a season (with incentives), an obvious nod to his belief that Smoltz would be incapable of coming back and being effective.

Boston clearly believes in one of the fiercest competitors baseball has ever seen and they rewarded the 41-year-old veteran with a one-year $5.5 million dollar deal.

Smoltz had come back from season-ending surgery last year and was looking strong this past December and anticipated a deal from the Braves.

Wren, instead, chose to wait before making a decision and Smoltz grew tired of the process. What Wren failed to consider is that if there's a player that could come back from a fourth surgery and still be a convincing presence on a ball club, it's Smoltz.

Following his season-ending injury last season, Jones said of his teammate, "He's very competitive, he's competitive with everything he wants to do. He's come through this situation many times before. He knows what it's going to take." Jones added, "If he puts his mind to it, there is no doubt, none of us have any doubts, that he'll make it back and make it back healthy."

Wren clearly didn't echo those sentiments and as the news broke the Braves' front office was silent, with the only statement coming from team chairman and CEO Terry McQuirk, offering little more than a "it's his fault, not ours" kind of statement, saying, "John is a great guy. He follows his own head, and I just don’t know what’s going on with him right now."

Mr. McQuirk, I'll give you a clue. The man gave everything he had to your organization, pitching through pain more times than you can count and all he was asking for was a little respect on his paycheck. 

Here's some perspective for you: Last season, pitchers Scott Downs, Doug Brocail, John Bale, and Nate Robertson all earned more than $2 million. Smoltz's intangibles alone are worth more than that.

To the fans driving in their cars this morning, the $3.5 million difference is substantial, life-changing even. But in the world of eight and nine digit team payrolls, it's a very quiet drop in the bucket.

Isn't a drop in the bucket worth one of your all-time greatest players? In an offseason that featured a lot of swings and misses, you could have used good contact on at least one move.  

Instead Atlanta Braves, you lose your fan favorite and perhaps your fickle fans as well.