The End of John Smoltz's Major League Baseball Career

This year there is no doubt that long time Atlanta Brave pitcher John Smoltz is retired.

Smoltz was a constant member of my fantasy teams for the past 15 years, finishing up in seventh place on my list of top fantasy players.

He was a pitcher on my team a total of 71 times and scored my team 1,913 fantasy points for a weekly average of 26.94 fantasy points.

Smoltz was drafted by the Detroit Tigers. On Aug. 12, 1987, he was traded to the Braves for pitcher Doyle Alexander.

He made his Braves debut on July 23, 1988.

He quickly became a favorite of mine and all of Braves Nation.

Soon Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery became the face of the Braves pitching staff. In 1993, Greg Maddux joined the clan.

The group along with Chipper Jones and Javy Lopez under the leadership of Bobby Cox became long time household names with Atlanta Braves fans and still are.

On May 13, 1998 a friend and I got the chance to go to St. Louis and see the Braves play the St. Louis Cardinals.

It was my first Major League Baseball game experience and it was awesome. The friend I was with was not a sports fan and could not fully comprehend the excitement.

Smoltz had pitched the night before against the Astros so I settled for watching him play catch before the game.

On Aug. 28 I traveled back to St. Louis with a fellow Braves fan for another series with the Cardinals.

But once again, Smoltz had pitched against the Houston Astros the night before and once again we settled for watching Smoltz play catch and clown around with fellow teammates before the game.

We returned in August of 1999 and joined over 45,000 people at Busch Stadium on Aug. 29 to watch Smoltz take on then Cardinal pitcher Rick Ankiel in a game that ended up going 12 innings.

Smoltz went eight innings, struck out seven, and allowed a home run to Joe McEwing in the seventh.

The homer tied the game and would eliminate the possibility of a Smoltz win.

Braves pitchers Russ Springer, Mike Remlinger and Kevin McGlinchy would come in and pitch scoreless innings.

Chipper Jones then came to the plate in the 12th inning and blasted his 34th home run off Cardinal pitcher Juan Acevado to give the Braves a win.

We returned to St. Louis in August of 2000 as did the Braves, but Smoltz was not there as he had underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the entire season.

Smoltz bounced back with the Braves in 2001 and stayed with the club until 2008. During that time he had performed both as a starter and a closer, recording over 40 saves three years in a row including 55 saves in 2002.

In 2009, Braves fan watched as Smoltz was sent to the Boston Red Sox. Before season end he was wearing a Cardinal uniform.

A return trip to St. Louis in 2009 did not result in a Smoltz sighting. But it was strange seeing Smoltz jerseys decked out in Cardinal red and feathers instead of Braves blue and tomahawks.

In 2010, I made my way to Atlanta as did many Braves fans to bid farewell to Bobby Cox. Smoltz was among the many former and current Braves present to say goodbye. So once again I saw him in a Braves jersey.

Smoltz is currently pursuing a career in the broadcast booth and participates in many golf tournaments.

Odds are his number will join those worn by Glavine, Maddux, Dale Murphy, Phil Niekro and all the other retired Braves numbers in front of Turner Field.

My fantasy team is losing another member of its top-10 as New York Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte announced his retirement in February.

Pettitte pitched for my team 51 times and scored 1,338 points for a weekly average of 26.23.

My fantasy team is also saying goodbye to Jim Edmonds and Gary Sheffield and it is also time to give up on Barry Bonds ever returning to the batter's box. Actually it was time to give up on that a long time ago.

But Bonds will exit my fantasy team after playing 67 weeks and scoring 1,630 points for a weekly average of 24.32.