Righty starter/reliever John Smoltz is a first ballot Hall of Famer in my book. Sure, he might have been the 3rd best starter on his own team (Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine) but he’s one of only two pitchers in major league history with at least 150 wins and 150 saves (Dennis Eckersley is the other). Smoltz pitched 21 years in the majors and he worked in 723 games (481 starts) in which he was 213-155 with 154 saves, a 3.33 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He did win 1 Cy Young Award back in 1996 with the Braves. He pitched in 35 games (all starts) for the Braves in 1996 and he was 24-8 with a 2.94 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Smoltz whiffed a major league leading 276 batters in 253 2/3 innings in 1996. Smoltz had elbow issues starting in 2001, so he moved to the bullpen. In 2002, Smoltz became the Braves’ closer and he saved 144 games the next three years. He then made an amazing return to the rotation in 2005 for the Braves. From 2005-2007, Smoltz started 100 games and he was 44-24 for the Braves. Smoltz saved over 40 games 3 times in his major league career and he won at least 15 games in a season 7 times! He was a N.L. All-Star 8 times and he also won a Silver Slugger Award. Smoltz is #16 in major league history in strikeouts wiht 3,084 as he was a power pitcher. Smoltz was also a big game pitcher as he worked in 41 games (27 starts) in the post-season for the Braves and he was 15-4 with 4 saves, a 2.67 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP.

When looking at Smoltz’ career in a Hall of Fame context, I like to compare him to Dennis Eckersley who got in on his first try. Eckersley pitched in 1,076 games (361 starts) in his major league career and he was 197-171 with 390 saves, a 3.50 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Eckersley, like Smoltz, won 1 Cy Young Award (he also was the MVP) in 1992 with the A’s. Eckersley pitched in 69 games (0 starts) for the A’s in 1992 and he was 7-1 with 51 saves, a 1.91 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. Eckersley made 6 All-Star teams.

While Eckersley was a very solid pitcher, I think Smoltz’ career numbers are more worthy of the Hall. Plus, I have seen them both pitch and I just think Smoltz was the better pitcher. To me, he should not only get into the Hall of Fame, but on the first ballot.

Cy Young was a righty starting pitcher who worked from 1890-1911.  Over his 22 year major league career, Young set some records that will never be touched.  He is the majors’ all time leader in games started (815), wins (511), losses (316), complete games (749), innings pitched (7,356) and hits allowed (7,092).  Cy Young won at least 20 games in a season an amazing 15 times and he won more than 30 games in a year five times.  Cy Young pitched in 906 games (815 starts) in his 22 years in the majors and he was 511-316 with 17 saves, a 2.63 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.  Young was elected into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1937.  He is the measure by whom all pitchers are judged as the award for the best pitcher in each league is named after him…..the Cy Young Award.  Forget about the 56-game hitting streak of Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams’ .406 batting average……no one will EVER touch Young’s all-time record of 511 wins.  To put it into perspective, 44-year old Tim Wakefield is the current leader of active players in wins and he has 194 of them.  34-year old righty Roy Halladay is #2 on the active wins list with 175.

 74-year old Harmon Killebrew has decided to enter hospice care as he has decided to drop his fight with esophageal cancer.  He will likely die in the next few days.  The strapping righty swinging 1B/3B/OF made his mark in his 22 years in the majors (21 of them were spent with the Twins/Senators’ franchise).  Killebrew played in 2,453 games in his 22 years in the majors and he was 2,086 for 8,147 (.256 avg, .884 OPS) with 1,283 runs scored, 573 homers, 1,584 RBIs and 19 stolen bases.  He is currently #127 in major league history in runs scored (1,283), #11 in homers (573) and he’s tied for 36th in RBIs with Rogers Hornsby (1,584).  Killebrew made 11 All-Star teams and he was the American League MVP in 1969 with the Twins.  Killebrew was a pure power hitter without any helpers (steroids), so it’s sad to see so many cheaters passing him up on the All-Time homers list in Major League Baseball.  Killebrew was elected into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1984.  He might be gone in a couple of days but he will live on as a true baseball legend.

The Mavericks pounded the Lakers in Game #4 122-86 to sweep them out of the second round of the 2010-11 NBA Playoffs.  This likely marks the end of the line as a NBA head coach for 65-year old Phil Jackson.  He has nothing left to prove as a head coach in the NBA as he was inducted into Basketball’s Hall of Fame in 2007.  Jackson finishes his career with a 1,155-485 (70.4%) record during the regular season.  Jackson was also 229-104 (68.8%) during the post-season in his career.  Jackson finishes his NBA career #5 in regular season wins with his 1,155.  He is also #2 all-time in win/loss percentage (70.4%) behind only Tom Thibodeau who has only coached one season in the NBA.  Jackson is also the all-time leader in both playoff wins (229) and win-loss percentage (68.8%) in NBA history.  Jackson also has won 11 NBA Titles and he has been to 13 of them, which are both NBA records.  It’s hard to argue that Jackson isn’t the best coach in NBA history.  But, he has almost always had the best player in the game (Michael Jordan & Kobe Bryant) on his teams.  Jackson wasn’t much of a player during his NBA career.  He played in 807 games in his twelve years with the Knicks & Nets and he averaged 17.6 minutes, 6.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  The NBA is going to miss the Zen Master.

42-year old Jeff Bagwell got 242 votes (41.7%) for Baseball’s Hall of Fame this year as he was appearing on the ballot for the first time.  Bagwell has never failed a drug test nor was he mentioned in Baseball’s Mitchell Report, but he didn’t get near the needed votes to be inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame.  Bagwell played in 2,150 games in his 15 years with the Astros and he was 2,314 of 7,797 (.297 avg, .948 OPS) with 1,517 runs scored, 449 homers, 1,529 RBIs and 202 stolen bases.  Bagwell is #21 in OPS (.948), #62 in runs scored (1,517)  #34 (449) in homers and he’s tied with Tris Speaker for 45th in RBIs with (1,529) in major league history.  Bagwell was the N.L. Rookie of the Year in 1991 for the Houston Astros.  He also was the N.L. MVP in 1994.  Bagwell made 4 N.L. All-Star teams, he won 1 Gold Glove and 3 Silver Slugger Awards during his 15 years in the majors.  If Bagwell put up the career numbers he did in any other era he would probably have been elected into the Hall of Fame this year.  He should eventually get in but it will likely take a few years on the ballot first.

47-year old 1B Fred “The Crime Dog” McGriff was never a physical freak like a lot of the guys that played during his time.  He never cranked 50+ homers in a year.  But, he was very consitently one of the best 1B in all of baseball.  McGriff played in 2,460 games in his 19 years in the majors and he was 2,490 of 8,757 (.284 avg, .886 OPS) with 1,349 runs scored, 493 homers, 1,550 RBIs and 72 stolen bases.  McGriff never won a MVP but he made 5 All-Star teams and he won 3 Silver Slugger Awards during his career.  McGriff was tied for 26th in major league history in homers with Lou Gehrig (493)!  He is also #41 in RBIs (1,550) and he’s tied for 83rd in OPS (.886) with J.D. Drew in major league history.  McGriff might have to wait for the veterans’ committe to induct him into the Hall of Fame because he’s not getting much support on the ballot right now.