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They beat you before you swing. (Closer).
In the last few weeks, we have run into the two best closers in the N.L. With Trevor Hoffman and Robb Nen out for the year, Billy Wagner, Eric Gagne and John Smoltz are the best things going. There is something that separates, just a little bit, Smoltz and Gagne from Wagner.
Last week, we saw Gagne and the Dodgers. He saved all three games against us. Out of the nine outs he gut, eight were strikeouts, two on three pitches. Everybody knows he throws hard, but he also has a great changeup and throws a curveball just for fun.
Two weeks ago, the Braves' Smoltz saved both ends of a doubleheader against us with pretty much the same stuff--an upper-90s fastball and a splitter and a slider you couldn't hit with a boat oar. Smoltz just decided to try this closing thing after winning more than 150 games as a starter and winning the Cy Young in '96. He's dominant, he's big-game tested, he has experience, and he has proved his arm can take the abuse.
Against righties, he uses his fastball and slider. His fastball is around 98 mph, and his sinker, which he can throw to either side of the plate whenever he wants, is 93 or 94. Did I mention his slider? It starts on exactly the same plane as his fastball and darts at the last second about a foot and a half while traveling about 88 to 90. Against lefties, he uses the same fastball and throws a split-finger at 92. The last time I checked, a split-finger was an off-speed pitch. It must be nice to have an off-speed pitch at 92. What makes John so good is his command of everything. He locates his fastball and never seems to hang his slider. He knows how to pitch, so he mixes and matches great.
Gagne is becoming the same pitcher Smoltz is. He throws 94 to 97 all the time. ...
- Smoltz a Giant Killer As Braves End Streak
- Newspaper article from: The Washington Post Dave Carpenter June 16, 1989 700+ words
...rookie. This year John Smoltz is the carefree kid with...slider and the nasty fastball. Smoltz, 8-5 with a last...Robby Thompson on a high fastball. "Every game I've...afraid of everybody." Smoltz, acquired as a minor...
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- Newspaper article from: The Boston Globe Amalie Benjamin July 21, 2009 700+ words
...89-mile-per-hour fastball the catcher smashed onto...center-field fence. Smoltz's night was done...to Murphy, on which Smoltz slipped, was the one...mound and I pulled the fastball in," Smoltz said. "It was supposed...
- Without John Smoltz, Braves May Be Pressed To Set New Winning Record.
- Magazine article from: Baseball Digest KUENSTER, JOHN July 1, 2000 700+ words
...ll come back strong." Unlike Smoltz, Tommy John was a left-hander...asked them to put in Koufax's fastball. They did, but it turned out to be Mrs. Koufax's fastball." Whatever, with Smoltz out for the season, the Braves...
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- Newspaper article from: The Boston Globe Julian Benbow July 12, 2009 700+ words
...miles-per-hour fastball inside on Tony Pena to...could do was buckle. Smoltz finished with a 91...was just as frozen. Smoltz's fastball had life. His splitter...break. "This game," Smoltz said. "I felt like...
- Smoltz pitches, doesn't deliver
- Newspaper article from: The Boston Globe Amalie Benjamin July 27, 2009 700+ words
...absolutely not who I am," Smoltz said. "It's killed...Yet against a good fastball-hitting team he made...or Yankees. While Smoltz's offense didn...he's been told his fastball is "good enough," Smoltz said he hadn't trusted...
- Smoltz not throwing in towel
- Newspaper article from: The Boston Globe Adam Kilgore July 24, 2009 700+ words
...year, the average vertical movement of Smoltz's changeup has been 3.9 inches. Smoltz's average fastball in 2007 was 92.7 miles per hour. This...partly to pitching in a new league, which Smoltz said has made his transition more challenging...
- SMOLTZ ASSERTS HIMSELF AS NEW ACE OF BRAVES.(Sports)
- Newspaper article from: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, WA) October 9, 1996 700+ words
...means in a seven-game series you face Smoltz, Maddux and Glavine twice each. Smoltz always had the fastball with movement, but what he's added...relievers aren't that big a factor. Smoltz, Maddux and Glavine carry the load...
- Barry Bonds loses duel with Smoltz as Braves win.
- Newspaper article from: San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service) August 15, 2002 700+ words
...in the ninth. Smoltz said he knew the...out because the fastball he threw was safely...233) against Smoltz, blasted a 96 mph fastball to deep right...a full count. Smoltz figured he had...he went with a fastball, aiming for the...
