[the 'stache]

First ballot

Randy Johnson
Pedro Martinez
John Smoltz

Will also get in

Piazza
Biggio

Will eventually get in
Bagwell

Probably won't get in, but should
Carlos Delgado


John Smoltz might raise a few eyebrows as I have him as a first ballot Hall of Famer. I don't think he gets in on his first ballot, but if I were a voter, I would vote him in on my first ballot. Why? Value. John Smoltz for the entirety of his career was one of the most valuable, if not the most valuable pitchers, in baseball. Whatever the Braves needed from him, he did at an elite level. Start? Ok. He started, was one of the top 5 starters while he did it, winning a Cy Young Award in the process. Two years later he was 4th in the Cy Young voting again as a starter. He was outstanding the rest of the time. You could pencil him in for 15 or 16 wins every year. When you're the best team in your division, and in the National League, for that, teams are going to gun for you.

Then he got hurt, and missed a whole season. He came back the next season, and the Braves handled him with kid gloves. They had him start a few times, and close a few times. The next season, he came back with fury. He was now the best reliever in the game. For the next three seasons, he was Atlanta's closer, totaling 144 saves. Those three seasons, he averaged 48 saves with a 2.47 ERA and a 1.003 WHIP. He'd always been a strikeout pitcher, and he was as a closer, too, averaging a hair under 10 K/9 IP. A man who in 1996 won 24 games and struck out 276 hitters was now tossing up 55 games.

Then they needed him to be a starter again. And for another three years, he was one of the best starters in the game. 44 wins with a 3.22 ERA, and 577 strikeouts.

He played one final season at age 42 split between Boston and St. Louis. That should have never happened. He should have been a Brave for life. Regardless, Smoltz, won 213 games. He saved 154 and struck out 3,084 batters.

No other pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball has won 200 games and saved 150 games. Only Smoltz.

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned his post season play. Smoltzie appeared in 41 post season games, and the Braves won 28 of them. Smoltz himself was 15-4 with 4 saves, with a 2.67 ERA, 199 K in 209 IP. Opponents hit .211 off of him. Their OBP was .284. Their slugging was a paltry .336. The best hitters in baseball put up a .620 OPS against him.

He could hit, too. He won a Silver Slugger Award in 1997. He hit 5 home runs and drove in 61 runs in his career.

If the Hall of Fame honors greatness, I don't know how a pitcher could be greater. He did it all. He did everything his team ever asked of him, and he did it at the highest level possible.