Will John Smoltz fall short of the Hall of Fame?

Will former Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals pitcher John Smoltz fall short of being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2015?

More from St Louis Cardinals News

MLB.com columnist Richard Justice believes that the former pitcher will indeed fall short of joining the Class of 2015.

Hall of Fame sportswriter Peter Gammons writes that Smoltz is one of the five pitchers on the ballot “who clearly deserve to be inducted in Cooperstown.” Gammons also notes the lack of support from the writers for Mike Mussina.

Including his sole game pitching for the Cardinals in the 2009 National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Smoltz has a postseason record of 15-4 in 25 postseason series with a 2.67 ERA. This includes 27 starts but 41 appearances, overall.

For a pitcher who won 213 games and saved 153 of them, there’s no reason as to why he would not be elected into the Hall of Fame. If Smoltz doesn’t get in this year, it’s only because of the fact that there are so many solid candidates that are on the ballot. Gammons writes it himself in that there are at least five pitchers who “deserve to be inducted” into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

It’s really not a matter of if at this point but when. Whether it is 2015 or 2016 is what remains to be seen. But Smoltz will be going in wearing his Atlanta Braves cap. As he should. Smoltz may have pitched in seven regular season with the Cardinals but to every baseball fan, he will forever be remembered for the triumphant run by the Atlanta Braves in the 1990s.

In 2012, I interviewed Smoltz when he was promoting his memoir, Starting and Closing. Amongst the things we talked about was how Dave Duncan and Chris Carpenter noticed that he had been tipping his pitches. There was also the discussion of St. Louis having the best fans in baseball.

The Hall of Fame announcement is Tuesday and can be seen on the MLB Network.

Home/St Louis Cardinals News