JOHN SMOLTZ BIO

OVERVIEW

John Smoltz, a first-ballot MLB Hall of Famer, eight-time All-Star and National League Cy Young Award winner, is FOX MLB’s lead game analyst. In addition to calling the network’s marquee regular season games, Smoltz is in the booth for the All-Star Game and a full slate of postseason matchups which include Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series assignments.

Additionally, he serves as a game and studio analyst for MLB Network.

A NATURAL IN THE BROADCAST BOOTH

Smoltz joined FOX Sports in 2014, and after just two seasons was elevated to the network’s lead broadcast team. He called his first World Series in 2016 alongside Emmy Award-winning play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, and together they have been the voice of the Fall Classic for four consecutive years.

MLB LEGEND

A right-handed pitcher, Smoltz gained first-ballot admission into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015, a testament to the excellence of his memorable playing career. He played 21 seasons in the major leagues, tossing 3,473 innings over 723 games (481 starts) and posting a 213-155 record and lifetime 3.33 ERA, with 3,084 strikeouts. Impressively, Smoltz also registered 154 saves over a four-season stint as a closer from 2001 to 2004, becoming the first player in MLB history to record both 200 wins and 150 saves in his career.

Remembered as one of the cornerstone pieces of the Atlanta Braves dynasty that ruled the National League throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Smoltz joined fellow Hall of Famers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux atop a fearsome starting rotation that helped deliver the Braves 14 division titles, five National League pennants and the 1995 World Series championship. Smoltz was voted to eight All-Star Games and enjoyed his finest season in 1996, when he won the National League Cy Young Award after posting a 24-8 record and 2.94 ERA, leading the National League with career highs in both wins (24) and strikeouts (276).

Also regarded as a dominant postseason performer, Smoltz fired a complete game shutout in Game 7 of the 1991 National League Championship Series to send the franchise to its first World Series since 1958. In Game 7 of the ensuing World Series, he matched wits with Minnesota Twins starter Jack Morris for seven and one-third shutout innings in what was voted the second greatest game of the last 50 years in MLB Network’s 2011 series, "MLB’s 20 Greatest Games." The following year, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1992 NLCS after winning Games 1 and 4 and starting Game 7 en route to to another trip to the Fall Classic. Smoltz owns a lifetime postseason ERA of 2.67, and his 199 career strikeouts and 15 wins rank second all-time in MLB playoff history.

The Atlanta Braves retired Smoltz’s jersey in 2012.

AWARD WINNING

Smoltz was the recipient of the 2005 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, the 2005 Roberto Clemente Award, the 2007 Branch Rickey Award and was chosen by his peers as the MLBPA’s Marvin Miller Man of the Year in 2002 and 2003 for his outstanding community service.