Smoltz Is The Real Deal

I usually have a similar reaction to most pro athletes. I can take them or leave them. They're typically business-like, usually pleasant enough but often have just enough of a shield around them that you never really feel like you're fully in their world. I prefer those who are down to Earth, who understand that we're all in this thing together and that we should value whatever opportunities where our paths lead us.

There are a few I really enjoy listening to and asking questions. Jake Delhomme and Muhsin Muhammad of the Panthers come to mind off the top of my head as each actually talks to you instead of just spewing out generic rhetoric.

And I was reminded this past Sunday that John Smoltz is very much in that category. The righty, who has nothing more to prove in the Majors as Cooperstown is definitely in this guy's future, is on the comeback trail again and, as you likely know, made his latest rehab start (following last year's shoulder surgery) for the Drive in Greenville this past Sunday.

As he visited with the media after his five innings of work he was warm and engaging as always. As he talked about a variety of topics----ranging from the typical questions he gets after these starts to the possibility he may write a book about his experiences as well as the relating of a funny story from one of his previous rehab assignments in Greenville with the Braves---I thought about the many times and different places where I'd interviewed him over the years: in the Braves clubhouse, in the visiting clubhouse in Minnesota after that legendary World Series Game Seven performance against the Twins, at a McDonald's in the Atlanta area in August of 1994 the day the players went on a strike that would take out that year's postseason, at a health club in Spartanburg about a year-and-a-half ago, and on his previous visits to the upstate on those Atlanta rehab visits.

Each time, it was a comfortable experience in which he, as the subject, seemed as interested in the conversation as I did. This time was as good as those encounters and even better as a 42-year-old who's seems to be in the process of what will be his most miraculous comeback has become more reflective about where he is in the game and in life. His recent second marriage has maybe added to his already calm state of mind (I'll let you insert a "just married" joke here to counter that thought if you so choose).

One comment he made was that he hoped in this comeback and, for that matter, the way in which he's successfully worked around and back from injuries over the past decade, will prove to people that he's a true pitcher and not just a guy who lived to blow people away.

He's also showing that he's someone who's a pretty solid ambassador of the game. It's the character quality that will likely having him doing a lot of talking about baseball long after he finally decides he's finished with coming back.

On a different subject, if I may also give a shout out to my pal Jason Gilmer, who's leaving the Spartanburg Herald-Journal this week after nearly a decade as the high school beat writer.

What a job he's done and what a good guy to know. He's moving into different endeavors as his wife is a doctor and has landed a very good opportunity elsewhere.

I wish him well and have enjoyed working with him, knowing him, having a laugh at his expense, being laughed at by him, and generally sharing information and stories about the similarities we encounter in covering the local high school sports scene.