Follow @PBRMichigan

By Brent Alwine and Dylan Hefflinger
Michigan Scouting Director and Michigan Editor in Chief/Regional Scout

Michigan Background

This past week John Smoltz, a 1985 graduate of Waverly high school in Michigan, was elected to the class of 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame. Drafted in the 22nd round out of high school by the Detroit Tigers, Smoltz spent two seasons in the minor leagues for the Tigers before being traded in 1987 to the Atlanta Braves for Doyle Alexander. The trade is famous for allowing the Tigers to take over the lead in the American League West and win the division.

According to the Lansing State Journal, Smoltz became the fourth high school graduate from the state of Michigan to get inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame along with Charlie Gehringer- 1949, Kiki Cuyler- 1968, and Hal Newhouser- 1992.

Also according to the Lansing State Journal, Smoltz has mentioned several times when returning to the Lansing area that hitting the game-winning home run in the 1985 Diamond Classic was “one of the biggest highlights of my career.” The Diamond Classic is hosted every by teams in and around the Lansing area and continues still today.

Career Accomplishments

Smoltz played 21 years of Major League Baseball for the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.

From 1989-99, the Braves were perennial division winners and World Series participants. During those years Smoltz became one of the most reliable starters in the game, posting a 3.29 ERA while striking out 2,061 (only Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and David Cone struck out more during that span). He missed all of 2000 following Tommy John surgery, and when he struggled in his return to the rotation in 2001, became the closer. In 2002, Smoltz led the National League with 55 saves, and from 2002-04 he saved 144 games with only 13 blown opportunities. From 2005-2007 Smoltz returned to the rotation and went 44-22 with a 3.22 ERA while striking out 577. In 2008 and 2009, Smoltz played for Boston and St. Louis before retiring after the 2009 season.

In 1995, Smoltz won his only World Series with the Braves and the following year, won the Cy Young in 1996. During his time in the majors, Smoltz was an eight-time All-Star.

In his 21-year career, Smoltz was 213-155 with 154 saves and a 3.33 ERA while striking out 3,084. In the postseason the righty went 15-4 with four saves and a 2.67 ERA while striking out 199 batters.

Class of 2015 Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame class of 2015 includes Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Smoltz, and Craig Biggio. One thing to remember about the voting process is that eligible voters are only allowed to vote for 10 players on any year's ballot which makes it even harder to be elected and impossible to garner 100% of the votes (no player has ever received 100%). Some voters have said that they didn't vote for Johnson, Martinez or Smoltz in hopes of getting someone that was a fringe Hall of Famer in, considering they thought the three pitchers were locks to get in the HoF.

Johnson received 97.3% while Martinez received 91.1% and Biggio received 72.7% of the vote. To become a member of the Hall of Fame a player must receive 75%. The highest was Tom Seaver at 98.84% while Al Simmons in 1953 received 75.38% which is the lowest to be elected.

Smoltz garnered 82.9 percent of the vote to earn the Hall of Fame selection. There are just a few pitchers that have entered the election process with such a diverse resume as Smoltz. Dennis Eckersley is one of the few hybrid starter-relievers in Smoltz’s class that I can think of that has made it to the HoF.

Smoltz and Eckersley are the lone pitchers that have both won 20 games in a season and saved 50 games in a season.