One if by land.....

If you were to hear that a 42 year old pitcher just left your team to accept an incentive laden deal with another team, would it matter to you?

What if that pitcher is John Smoltz?

Does it matter now?

Fans of the Atlanta Braves will have to ask themselves these questions, as the afore mentioned pitcher is now $5 million dollars richer, and a member of the Boston Red Sox. Those $5 million are guaranteed and there is another $5 million to be earned if Smoltz can come back from shoulder surgery as the dominant right hander we have become accustomed to seeing behind the chest high tomahawk.

As a counter offer the Braves proposed a contract worth $2.5 million guaranteed with the possibility for another $5 million in incentive clauses. While this is considered an above average offer for a recovering 42 year old, Smoltz does not quite fit the mold that both his age and his arm give perceive him to be.

Baseball is an emotional game. Fans invest themselves both financially and emotionally in the team they root on throughout the course of the season. Turning your back on a player that has given you 21 years of his hall of fame career could be considered by the Atlanta faithful as an act of high treason. It is a simple statement to say that fans must disconnect themselves from the sensation of a pitcher remaining in one uniform for his entire career, and yet it seemingly cannot be done.

Try telling a fan who has given a significant amount of his income to the season ticket office that a hall of fame pitcher who has been the face of the franchise for two decades has been let go because you were not willing to spend $3 million dollars in an off-season which was supposed to see a raise in the payroll.

When asked by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3rd baseman Chipper Jones had this to say, “I am disappointed. Very disappointed. Deflated. Frustrated. It’s been a very long offseason, not a lot of stuff to really get excited about and then to have this it just is the icing on the cake for me.” A long offseason indeed for a team used to the free agents coming their way instead of out of town.

And so, John Smoltz leaves behind the only team and manager he has know, since 1988 when he was traded by the Detroit Tigers for Doyle Alexander. He will find himself in a new city, greeted by new fans with only memories of 200+ wins and 150 saves.

As for the city of Atlanta, they now face the first time in two decades without the only pitcher they have seen on the mound through good times and bad. John Smoltz has seen the ups and downs of this storied team, and now he will find new stories and new times.

No matter how ardent a fan of the Braves, a part of everyone will now keep an eye on the American league east.

From the city of Atlanta goes out a heartfelt thank you, and we’ll see you in Cooperstown John!