From the archives: New Hall of Famer John Smoltz

Posted on July 22, 2015

Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz is featured on this regional cover of Sports Illustrated from October of 1998. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

During the 1990’s the Atlanta Braves boasted one of the greatest pitching staffs of all-time, featuring starting hurlers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz. The first two guys were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York last summer. On Sunday Smoltz will get the chance to join his teammates when the honor is bestowed upon him during the traditional ceremony around the corner from my good friend Paul Cunningham’s childhood home. I looked through my archive for pictures of Smoltz and was sad that I did not have much quantity, but the quality I found was pretty sweet. It seems like I shot Maddux and Glavine a million times, but not so with Smoltz. The best game I ever shot with Smoltz was a memorable Sunday night ESPN game in 1998 that started at 5:05pm against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park. I was on assignment for Sports Illustrated to shoot Smoltz and anything that moved in the incredible late afternoon sunlight we used to get at The Stick. Shooting Fujichrome under those conditions was a dream, and the images I came back with were stunning. You just can’t get that same look with digital today. I lucked out a few months later when one of my frames of Smoltz was used on a regional cover of Sports Illustrated in October of 1998 to preview the baseball playoffs (see above). It was my first ever cover of the magazine, albeit a regional one- which was very rare in those days. I would have to wait till 2001 to get my first national cover.

I will be watching the ceremonies on the MLB Network Sunday and am looking forward to Smoltz’s speech. He is terrific as a commentator on the MLB Network both in studio and on ballgames so I expect great things from him on his big day. Congrats John! I am the guy that shot your SI cover!