A history told in baseball cards...
"John was signed as an undrafted Free Agent of the Tigers, 9-22-85, by Bill Schudlich and Ken Madeja."
"Became youngest NL All Star in Braves' history in '89 and finished tied for 3rd in NL in opponents' batting avg. against (.212)...9th in NL in strikeouts in '89 despite missing final month with tired arm...Recalled from Richmond in midseason '88 after compiling 10-5 record and 2.79 ERA with 115 strikeouts in 135 1/3 innings at triple A...Finished '88 in Braves' rotation...At Glens Falls in '87 was 4-10 with 5.68 ERA...Had 7-8 record and 3.56 ERA at Lakeland in '86."
"As John went in 1991, so did the Braves. Through July, he was 2-11 and Atlanta was was in third place. But in the second half, John regained his All-Star form of 1989, going 12-2 and leading the Braves' charge to the division title."
"Last season John became the first Brave to strike out 200 batters in two straight seasons since Phil Niekro, 1977-1979. He now ranks behind only "Knucksie" on the all-time Atlanta K list."
"John grew up rooting for the Detroit Tigers. His grandfather was a Tiger groundskeeper and his father played the accordion at the Tigers' 1968 World Series victory party -- 19 years before John was traded by the family's beloved Tigers to the Braves."
"John, who donates $50 to each of two charities for every strikeout, has been quite the philanthropist. His 200-whiff season in 1997 was his fourth, a Braves franchise record."
"In 1999, John became baseball's 53rd pitcher to record 2,000 strikeouts. Once purely a hard-thrower, he says his breakthrough came when he developed his batter-befuddling change-up."
"According to Travel and Leisure Golf, John is one of the only two scratch golfers among MLB players."
"John saved 28 straight games, 2002-03."
"Smoltz punched out his 3,000th victim (Washington's Felipe Lopez) on April 22. Only five members of the 16-man 3,000-K club needed fewer innings to secure membership. John joined despite numerous injuries and four seasons spent as a reliever."
"For a time, John Smoltz thrived out of the bullpen just as he had as a starter. In 2002, his 55 saves eclipsed the NL record of 53 shared by Randy Myers and Trevor Hoffman. John earned nine of those stops against the division-rival Mets while becoming the first player to win the Rolaids Relief Man Award after previously taking Cy Young honors as a starting pitcher."
