John Smoltz Quotes (79 Quotes)

At this point, it's the playoffs, and I guarantee you won't hear one word about my shoulder being an issue one way or the other,

My thoughts are I better be on my game. I think Game 4, the last time we hooked up in the World Series, he certainly was on his, and he beat us.

Honestly, I thought it would be because of my elbow or shoulder,

I don't know any other way to do it. I take the mound with the focus that we can't lose. I've had that feeling for a long time.

This is for everyone who doubted us. People said I couldn't make the transition back to starting. People said we had too many rookies again. But we proved everybody wrong. This is really something to celebrate.

Whenever you see a rash of new guys coming through, you never imagine they can contribute the way that they did. I think it's a great boost of confidence for them to be able to feel that no matter what happens this year, they have the capability to be a big part of our organization.

I beg to differ. One through five, they're as good as most people. I don't know if there's going to be a better division in baseball in terms of playing these guys 18 times.

I doubt that will matter. That park gives them a tremendous home-field advantage. It is what it is. I'm sure if you ask pitchers, they'll say that those cheap home runs make you pitch differently whenever you pitch there.

I don't know anyone in the history of the game who went through more to start out.

You don't want to give any momentum to anyone, especially a team that started out so well. They're the team to beat. I think they're the team to beat in the whole National League. I think they're that good.

I'm fighting some incredible ambition, but I need to be smart. If I had until February to make this decision, then it would be a no-brainer. I'd know exactly where I stood at that point. But right now, this is the best decision.

This has to rank right up at the top of Clemens' career accomplishments. We've all worked on short rest before, but not at 43 years old.

It's the fifth time we've faced each other over the last two years. He's up 3-2, but it's been five great games.

I knew the first inning was going to be my biggest inning, ... I waited a long time to start a game of this magnitude. When I got through the first inning, that was the biggest test.

Hudson is the Opening Day starter of the future, and as long as he's here, he's going to continue being the Opening Day starter.

The ball was flying today. Certainly, for us in the ninth, thankfully, it flew with Chipper's bat and Andruw's. That, hopefully, will erase what was an ugly eighth inning.

This truly is a dream team. I didn't think it was possible in May. I didn't think it was possible from the time we left spring training with all the things that we were dealing with. Who could have imagined 17 rookies coming up here at different times

I made the comment a few years ago that I didn't think there would be any more 300-game winners, so I've already been proven wrong twice by Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux. I sure hope that I'm proven wrong at least one more time.

Anybody can be a starting pitcher. Not everybody can be a great starting pitcher, but anyone can start. Anyone can't close. It's a completely different animal. It's a completely different mind-set. Some guys can do it for a while, then burn out. Some guys can't do it at all. I think it's the most challenging thing in the game.

That's a huge run for a pitcher, ... When you're battling, that run makes you feel like I wish hitters could appreciate what a pitcher feels like because that run's huge. He had it all the way. It was such a great play.

I said at the start of this road trip, if we can take two out of three and kill the momentum of the teams we're playing with, that's going to help. Certainly, we didn't want to draw it up this way, but it had a happy ending.

I couldn't get my feel in the second inning. I felt I lost it and then I got it back. It's related to the cold weather, and that's all we've had out here.

Any time you talk about a missed start, people's attention goes immediately to the injuries, ... But that's not the case. It's just giving me a couple of extra days.

They've all been great games. Concentration isn't an issue when you're facing a guy like him. It's really their lineup that provides the most problems. You just hope to keep it close.

The pitch to Reyes was the make-it or break-it pitch of the game. He beat our defense because I made a bad pitch.

That game showed me if you put the ball in the right spot and trust it, you can get guys out.

Huddy is Opening Day starter for the future here.

If I had to guess today, I think I'm going to be fine, ... I really do.

If I could stand up there with my whole side protected, ... why would I give up anything

Joey Devine has such an incredible upside. I don't know any player in the history of the game that has gone through what he did. His personality will deal with it.

I just really believe, in my heart, what we're doing gives us the best chance to win, ... If we had won while I was in the closing role, I would have said 'Fine. I was wrong.'

The only way its bad for the game is if a guy is falsely accused. Thats bad. To be thought lesser than your talent, lesser than what you deserve to get credit for because of what somebody wrote, thats the greatest travesty. Thats why you should hold onto peoples words as long as you can, until you absolutely know the truth.

Anything you give a couple of extra days, it's just going to make it that much better,

We just have to remember that this thing isn't over until that magic number is at zero. We have to keep our focus.

I've got to be careful I don't hurt him. That's why it's got to be something slow like a knuckleball.

You just try to make as many good pitches as you can. I'll make the adjustments when I face him again.

This is meant to be a compliment, but Sandberg is like Davis Love in golf. He doesn't look like he can hit it as far as he does, but it's nice and easy and the ball is 320 yards. That's the best way I can describe Sandberg.

The reason why we're seeing such a great celebration is we realize how hard we've worked, ... This truly is a dream season. I didn't think it was possible in May. I didn't think it was possible from the time we left spring training with all the things we were dealing with. I mean, who could imagine 12 rookies coming up here at different times

A fault of mine is to get too excited about the first game. I kind of figured it out, then had a different routine for five years and had to learn it all over again last year.

Today is what you're hopefully going to see all season -- me under control and not falling off the mound.

Everything that I wanted to accomplish, everything I set out to do from an attitude mindset-wise, stayed consistent throughout.

It's a no-brainer, to me. I don't say that to be submissive. It makes sense because of everything stats, everything. He's the guy that's going to carry the club. I don't want to put pressure on him, but that's the truth.

People don't understand every year for the last four years we've been dealing with being written off. It's kind of ironic people are picking us now because they don't want to pick against us.

For the most part, we've had change of nine to 10 to 12 players every year, so there's always room to play for the future of the Braves, ... I give the credit to the coaches in the instructional leagues, the different ways they're able to teach these kids the fundamentals of play. Playing the game is one thing. They've done that all their life. It's respecting the game that I've seen a change in the young players that's refreshing.

There's a perception problem in Atlanta with the bullpen. It's hard to let go of the past. As soon as something goes wrong, everyone says, 'Here we go again.

It's been a grind. I feel like I'm pitching really good and sometimes you give up runs, where you go, 'How in the world did I give up runs' Then there are games where you think you should give up six (runs) and you don't.

I fought it most of the night. I thought I pitched great warming up, then all of a sudden it wasn't normal.

I'm an effort guy, a max-out guy. But I'm not a guy to go out there grunting, ... There's just no balance to closing.

The anticipation is what kills me, ... I have more fun in these games than I have in any game I pitch. The issue's going to be will I be able to contain that adrenaline. I learned how to do that in my latter years.

It's a devastating blow for us. I don't think people realize how valuable he was to our rotation. That's why we kept holding out hope that he'd be able to give us something in the playoff drive.