Smoltz enjoying best season ever.(John Smoltz)

Byline: Marc Narducci

In this age of small ballparks, big sluggers and tape-measure home runs, there has been an abundance of pitching stories this season in major-league baseball, one seemingly better than the other.

There has been the continued dominance of 43-year-old Roger Clemens, whose lack of run support will cost him a chance to win 20 games.

Pedro Martinez has once again made baseball meaningful for the New York Mets. Chris Carpenter, who missed the entire 2003 season with an arm injury and was shelved for last year's postseason for the same reason, is a leading Cy Young Award candidate.

Herky-jerky lefthander Dontrelle Willis has won 21 games and almost single-handedly kept the Florida Marlins in the wild-card race.

But arguably the best and easily the most underrated story has …