John Smoltz Elected to Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame has announced its 2015 inducting class, and among the four electees is former right-handed pitcher John Smoltz, who becomes the first player to wear the Drive uniform to later be inducted into Cooperstown.
Smoltz made two rehab appearances for the Drive during the 2009 season and allowed just one run over eight innings with eight strikeouts. His appearance at Fluor Field on May 31st, 2009 brought 7,129 fans, which stood as the record attendance for a home Drive game until June of 2014.
In addition to his injury rehab in 2009, Smoltz also made rehab appearances in Greenville in 1998, 1999 and 2001 while pitching for the Greenville Braves, affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.
Smoltz pitched parts of 21 seasons in the major leagues from 1988-2009. 20 of those seasons were with the Atlanta Braves, where he made eight All-Star appearances, won a World Series title in 1995 and the National League Cy Young Award in 1996 after going 24-8 with a 2.94 ERA and 276 strikeouts. He split his final season of 2009 between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.
His career numbers include 213 victories, a 3.33 ERA, 53 complete games, and 3,084 strikeouts in 3,473 innings pitched. He also recorded 154 saves during a four-year stint as Atlanta's closer from 2001-2004.
Joining Smoltz among the inductees to the Hall of Fame in 2015 are Craig Biggio, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez. The induction ceremony will be held in Cooperstown, New York on Sunday, July 26th.