John Smoltz

d it.  Congrats, Wake!

Good thing the excitement doesn’t end there.  Tonight John Smoltz will be pitching at Fenway for the first time as member of the Boston Red Sox.  I’m sure he will get a hearty hand as his name gets announced at the ballgame tonight.  Maybe tonight we’ll see the Smoltz that we’re hoping to see for the rest of the season. 

Continue reading "Monday Night Baseball at Fenway: Very Exciting"

I’ll tell you right now that it’s not better than viewing it as any other person. 

I’ll also tell you that even though it’s the summer, we still maintain some of the college atmosphere here in Salem.  A lot of us Salem Staters have off campus apartments so we get to see each other even when school is not in session. 

Continue reading "A College Student’s Perspective ..."

Boston Red Sox Bullpen Blows a 9 Run Lead!!
So last night the 42 year old John Smoltz would get his second start of the year!!  In the last game he pitched he gave up 3 runs in the first inning, but then he was lights out. So I believe it was because it was his the first start and 1st inning jitters, so I didn't know what to expect. Well he was on point again and looked great. He only gave up 3 hits, 1 earned run and had 2 strikeout-- awesome! But the story is far from over. Meanwhile the Red Sox bats looked like they where going to explode, scoring 9 runs giving Smoltz a 9-1 lead, but that's when the rain came and this was big trouble for Smoltz and the Sox.(rain always seems to be trouble for the Sox).

Continue reading "BoSox Bullpen Blows a 9 Run Lead!!"

Last night I saw a funny production of Neil Simon’s play “Rumors” at Salem State College.  When I got out, I was hoping to catch the end of the game.  As it turned out, the game was over, and it was no laughing matter.  Smoltz had given up four runs alone in the first inning.  The Red Sox bullpen was very shaky.  And Jordan Zimmermann from the Nationals absolutely dominated the Red Sox through seven innings of work. 

Continue reading "Don’t Worry About Smoltz….Yet"

squo;s final appearance in a Sox uniform.  Last night the beautiful Heidi Watney reported that John Smoltz could be ready as early as next week.  Regardless, I don’t think this will be Penny’s last start considering he still may get another start before Smoltz takes the mound for Boston.  I also don’t think that the Sox should get rid of Penny right away (if that is what management is considering).  We still have yet to see how Smoltz will do, and I’m not ready to just get rid of Penny right away regardless of his not-so-good last start (5.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 5K).  I’m actually surprised with how well he had done up to last Friday’s game, so I’d like him to stick around for a while. 

Continue reading "Boston You’re My Home – New York, You Are Not"

This has been a big topic on WEEI lately.  You can’t help but wonder whether or not our starting rotation is going to change with all the extra pitching we have.  Right now we have a decent rotation of Becket, Lester, Matsuzaka, Wakefield, and Penny.  Meanwhile, redsox.com reports that Smoltz says he’ll be ready to pitch for Boston in just three more starts.  Then you have Clay Buchholz in Pawtuckett with a 3-0 record who nearly threw a perfect game on Monday. 

Continue reading "Sox Thoughts - What Will We Do With ..."

John Smoltz was a great signing indeed and it is a win-win situation for both sides of the table.  If Mr. Smoltz performs well as he did throughout his career then he receives bonuses, the Red Sox get wins and the fans are happy.  If Mr. Smoltz does not perform well then he does not receive bonuses but the Red Sox will have had one of the greatest pitchers of all time on their team, whether win or lose. 

Continue reading "Smoltz; a Red Sock"

Wishy-Washburn: Randy Johnson ($15.1M)Mike Hampton ($15.975M, courtesy of his monster Rockies deal) John Smoltz ($14M)Josh Beckett ($10.1M)Carlos Zambrano ($16M)Mark Buehrle ($14M)Javier Vazquez ($11.5M)Jose Contreras ($10M)CC Sabathia ($11M)Jake Westbrook ($10M)Roy Oswalt ($13M Gil Meche ($11.4M) Jon Garland ($12M)Jason Schmidt ($15.2M) Derek Lowe ($10M)Ben Sheets ($10.1M)Johan Santana ($16.9M)Pedro Martinez ($11.8M)Andy Pettitte ($16M)Mike Mussina ($11M)Carl Pavano ($11M)Matt Morris ($10M)Greg Maddux ($10M) Barry Zito ($14.5M)Chris Carpenter ($10.5M)Vincente Padilla ($11M)Kevin Millwood ($10.3M) AJ Burnett ($13.2M)Roy Halladay ($10M)

Continue reading "Washburn's Farewell"

Eric Gagne and John Smoltz have both threatened to unseat Thigpen, each coming within two saves in 2003 and 2002, respectively.

The latest guy to challenge Thigpen is the Anaheim Angels’ Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez, who has been their closer since taking over in 2004 from Troy Percival. Since then, he’s notched 178 saves for Anaheim, including a 47-save 2006 and a 45-save 2005, and has averaged 32 saves throughout his career (including about two seasons as Percival’s setup man).

Continue reading "K-Rod: King of Saves"

But this year, luck may be catching up with him. On the DL right now are: John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Mike Hampton, Rafael Soriano, and Peter Moylan.

And that's only the pitchers. They're also missing Matt Diaz, Martin Prado and Mark Kotsay, while Chipper, Esco and now Infante are all aching in one way or another without (yet) going to the DL.

Continue reading "Not Your Daddy's Braves"

efore, these are the key questions facing each team.

Atlanta Braves

How much do Tom Glavine and John Smoltz have left?

The Braves figure to be loaded on offense and their pitching could potentially be pretty strong depending on how this pair of 40 year-olds fair this season. Smoltz, who will turn 41 this season, is the safer bet as he has pitched over 200 innings in each season since returning to the starting rotation in 2005, each time with a sub 3.50 ERA. At his age though, a pitcher can rapidly begin to decline and he has experienced some shoulder problems already this spring. Nonetheless, I would expect him to put up another solid year.

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: National League East"

der.  The big question again lingers with their rotation and mostly their third starter.  John Smoltz and Tim Hudson will be very good again this year, which means things, come down to Tom Glavine.  He was brought back to sure up the rotation and that’s exactly what he must do.  One person to look out for is Mike Hampton, yes that Mike Hampton.  He is healthy (for now) and if he stays that way he could become a key player for this team.  The bullpen is also a concern because Rafael Soriano has struggled to close games and everyone else seems to be a young kid.

Continue reading "First of a Seven Part Series-NL East Preview"