Braves' John Smoltz: "There is No Easy Button"

BIRMINGHAM - John Smoltz offers some advice to young athletes. Unlike the ad for a popular office supply store, "there is no easy button in life," he says. Forget about steroids, all-star showcases, and other shortcuts to the major leagues or any other career. Real success, he warms, requires sacrifice, hard work and determination.

Smoltz remarks came at a speech Thursday night in Birmingham, Alabama at the Seventh Annual Lead Off Dinner of the American Baseball Foundation. The foundation offers instruction in baseball and academic skills to under-served children, while also working with to reduce sports injuries among young people.

A colleague in the latter effort is noted Birmingham sports medicine surgeon, Dr. James Andrews. Smoltz acknowledged the impact of Andrews on his own career. Baseball Almanac noted that the pitcher missed the 2000 season after the physician performed Tommy John surgery on his elbow .

That surgery extended his career. But, Smoltz added, his career was free of steroids. "I've done it right," he said. "I've done it clean. I've done it the way you're supposed to do it." Steroids, he added, is "a matter that we [baseball] need to work on," but he didn't say how. After the speech, when asked what baseball would do to address the steroid issue, he simply said, "I believe that, some time within the next five months, something will happen that will rock the foundation."

While not offering specifics about the future, he was clear about what the message for young people should be: Do it with hard work, practice, and sacrifice. "Nothing comes without sacrifice," he said. "There is no easy button."

Smoltz credited his parents with providing the foundation that made him successful. The son of two Michigan musicians, Smoltz was learning how to play the accordion by the age of four and competing against other young Lawrence Welk-wannabes by the age of seven. He credits that early training with teaching him the importance of practicing.

He told his parents that he wanted to retire as an accordion player at that same age of seven. He addressed his parents while "sitting in a Pacer" at a local gas station, and said, "I will be a major league baseball player someday." When they noted he needed a backup plan, he said he might be a gas station attendant.

That backup plan was unnecessary. Smoltz was drafted out of high school by the Detroit Tigers in the 22^nd round of the 1985 amateur draft. Two years later he was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Doyle Alexander, and he joined the team as a rookie for the 1988 season.

He reached the majors with no formal baseball training, teaching himself the mechanics of pitching. He was successful, he said, because he didn't fall into early bad habits. "My priorities were God first, family second, school, and then sports," he said. "And I was fortunate not to smoke, drink, or do anything that was cool at the time."

Twenty-one years later, he is still active and compiling Hall of Fame statistics. The Baseball Almanac website notes that he won the National League Cy Young Award in 1996 with a 24-8 record and a league-leading 276 strikeouts. He has made his mark as both a starter and reliever, notching 207 wins as a starter and 154 saves out of the bullpen. Baseball Digest noted that those numbers make Smoltz the only pitcher to ever tally at least 200 wins and 150 saves.

The numbers piled up, he said, because of a fear of failure. He followed the advice of a former mentor who told him, "Don't ever become complacent. Just when you think you've arrived, somebody else is there to take your job."

Smoltz noted that he wasn't really happy when first told that the Braves wanted him to leave the starting rotation and go to the bullpen. He was 35 years old at the time and, he said, "I felt like they thought I was a horse who couldn't race anymore. They would just put me out to pasture."

He still prefers being a starter, but found the closer's position to be a challenging role. "Every game is an opportunity for failure," he said. Blowing a save, he added, was a terrible feeling. "When I blew a save," he said, "I felt like I had a booger on my nose and everyone was looking at me."

He used that feeling as motivation to succeed the next time. "I never wanted to blow two saves in a row," he said. "If you don't blow two in row, you can't feel like you're in a slump." He never did blow two consecutive saves.

His advice to youngsters today? "Dream. We've forgotten how to dream," he said. "If you've got a dream, pursue it. Go as far as you can. If you fail, look at it as an opportunity to succeed."

Second, he advised young players to not focus on one sport. Smoltz himself had college scholarship offers in both baseball and basketball. "Don't buy into the new age theory of playing only one sport year round," he said. "We've got to get back to playing the sport of the season."

Third, he added, turn off the video machine. "You can't improve your hand-eye coordination and baseball skills by playing video game. Get outside if you can."

Smoltz ended the night by building up the coffers of the ABF. Host Matt Colter, a local sports radio announcer, tried to auction off a pair of tickets to the 2008 All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium. The bid reached $850, and Colter was about to announce, "Sold," when Smoltz interrupted. He took over the microphone, continued the auction, and finally hammered it home when he got a bid of $2,100. He then auctioned off one of his own autographed jersey's, adding another $1,600 to the proceeds of the night.

References

Bowman, Mark (2007, August). Questions and answers with Braves pitcher John Smoltz. Baseball Digest, 58-61.

Farber, Michael (2005, April 4). Atlanta Braves. Sports Illustrated, 104-105.

John Smoltz. Baseball Almanac, www.baseball_almanac.com/players/player.php?p=smoltjo01

John Smoltz. Baseball Reference, www.baseball_reference.com/s/smoltjo01.shtml