Bradford: How John Smoltz Convinced The Red Sox He Was Worth A Chance

If I’m not mistaken…Good Lord Smoltzy once fought The Freakin’ Deacon in a bloody Pulpit Death Match.

The Sox’ contingent didn’t know what to expect in the 50-pitch side session, perhaps just a stream of straight balls and a subsequent physical examination. But, with his agents also looking on, Smoltz first threw a few 40-yard passes and then picked up a slew of worn baseballs he said “had a mind of their own”.

Finally came the first pitch.

“I’m standing back there ready to get this warm-up pitch,” Scherer remembered. “Then, all of a sudden, here comes this 92 mph fastball, low and away, that doesn’t touch my glove. I immediately thought, ‘I better get down now. He’s ready to go.’

“The way it came out of his hand … it shoots out of his hand. The thing I was amazed at was when he was warming up. I’ve seen him pitch a ton of times, but then I saw him warming up throwing the football back and forth and he’s launching it halfway down the field. Then he’s barely throwing the baseball and it’s coming out there at 90 mph.”

But, much to the surprise of the Red Sox observers, there weren’t just the fastballs. Along came Smoltz’s trademark slider, with the tight, late break, and some changeups and curves, for good measure. This wasn’t what any of the onlookers were expecting.

“He starts mixing in his slider, and I’m like, ‘All right, it has a nice late break and it’s hard,’” Scherer said. “But then he was like, ‘Now I’m going to throw a curveball’, and he breaks off this 12-to-6 that totally fools me. And then he starts saying we’re going to throw split-fingers, changeups, and a little of this and that. I’m like, ‘Good Lord Smoltzy, you’re ready to pitch, aren’t you?!’”