Atlanta Braves righthander John Smoltz moved
into select company earlier this week when he registered the 3,000th strikeout
of his distinguished career. He became the 16th pitcher in major league history
to reach that magic figure, and stands at 3,006—and counting.
Of significance, Smoltz is one of only three pitchers with 3,000 strikeouts to
accomplish the feat with one team. Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators
and Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals are the others. Smoltz has spent his
entire 21-year career with the Braves—even though he was initially signed by
the Detroit Tigers. He was traded to the Braves while in the minor leagues.
Smoltz is also one of four active big league pitchers who is his franchise’s
career strikeout leader, but none of the other leaders is close to Smoltz. The
others are Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks (1,845), Scott Kazmir of
the Tampa Bay Rays (617) and Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres (1,119). Ben
Sheets has also closed to within nine of Teddy Higuera, the career strikeout
leader of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Interestingly, Johnson and Nolan Ryan are the career strikeout leaders for two
teams. Ryan, the all-time leader, holds the career mark for the Los Angeles
Angels (2,416) and Houston Astros (1,866)—and also stands fourth on the Texas
Rangers career list. Johnson, who should pass Roger Clemens later this season
and move into second place on the all-time list, is the career leader for both
the Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners.
The accompanying list of the Braves franchise strikeout leaders is significant
as the top seven pitchers are either in the Hall of Fame or destined to achieve
that status once their careers end:
|
| Rank |
Player |
Years w/ Braves |
Strikeouts |
| 1 |
John Smoltz |
1988-08 |
3,006 |
| 2 |
*Phil Niekro |
1964-83 |
2,912 |
| 3 |
*Warren Spahn |
1942-64 |
2,493 |
| 4 |
Tom Glavine |
1987-2002, 2008 |
2,060 |
| 5 |
Greg Maddux |
1993-2003 |
1,828 |
| 6 |
*Kid Nichols |
1890-1901 |
1,672 |
| 7 |
*Vic Willis |
1898-1905 |
1,161 |
| 8 |
Jim Whitney |
1881-85 |
1,157 |
| 9 |
Lew Burdette |
1951-63 |
923 |
| 10 |
Kevin Millwood |
1997-2002 |
840 |
| |
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| --ALLAN SIMPSON |
Top Ten List Archives |
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Atlanta’s Chipper Jones only seems to get
better with age. With a .453 batting average, the veteran Braves third baseman
leads the major leagues in hitting. He is also tied for fourth with six home
runs and tied for second with 19 RBIs. At .747, he has the majors’ second-best
slugging percentage.
His strong start to the 2008 season only reinforces the astute selection made
by the Braves with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1990 draft. Then general
manager Bobby Cox and scouting director Paul Snyder had targeted Texas
schoolboy pitcher Todd Van Poppel to be the top pick that year, but switched
gears to Jones in the final 24 hours when they couldn’t get a handle on Van
Poppel’s bonus demands.
Jones, a high school shortstop from The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla.,
was quick to agree to a signing bonus of $275,000. Van Poppel lasted until the
14th pick and was ultimately given a $1.2 million major league contract that
provided for a $500,000 bonus. While Jones has spent his entire career with
Atlanta building a Hall of Fame resume, Van Poppel retired after the 2004
season. He proved to be little more than a journeyman righthander with a 40-52,
5.58 record in 11 big league seasons.
Led by Jones, the 1990 draft turned out to be one of the most successful in big
league history with 22 of 26 first-rounders reaching the big leagues. No first
round in history has been so productive. Only three first-rounders remain
active and the ranks of lower-round picks has also dwindled considerably. The
accompanying list identifies the highest picks from the 1990 draft who remain
active, and the list includes only nine players from the top 10 rounds.
It’s interesting to note that catchers seem to be the biggest survivors from
the 1990 draft. Still going strong are Jason Varitek, an unsigned 23rd-rounder
from that draft, and Jorge Posada, a 24th-rounder who signed with the Yankees
as a draft-and-follow. The accompanying list also includes Paul Bako, Raul
Casanova and Gary Bennett, who continue to hang on to big league jobs in backup
roles. It also should be mentioned that Troy Percival originally signed as a
catcher.
Following are the 10 highest picks from the 1990 draft who are playing in the
big leagues this season, the order they were selected and their signing
bonuses:
|
| Rank |
Player, Pos., Team |
Overall Order |
Signing Bonus |
Current Team |
| 1 |
Chipper Jones, ss, Braves |
1 |
$275,000 |
Braves |
| 2 |
Tony Clark, 1b, Tigers |
2 |
$500,000 |
Padres |
| 3 |
Mike Mussina, rhp, Orioles |
20 |
$250,000 |
Yankees |
| 4 |
Garret Anderson, of, Angels |
123
|
$60,000 |
Angels |
| 5 |
Ray Durham, 2b, White Sox |
129 |
$30,000 |
Giants |
| 6 |
Paul Bako, c, Indians |
159 |
Did not sign |
Reds |
| 7 |
Troy Percival, c, Angels |
175 |
$25,000 |
Rays |
| 8 |
Greg Norton, 3b, Giants |
198 |
Did not sign |
Mariners |
| 9 |
Raul Casanova, c, Mets |
220 |
$30,000 |
Mets |
| 10 |
Gary Bennett, c, Phillies |
284 |
$16,000 |
Dodgers |
| |
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| --ALLAN SIMPSON |
Top Ten List Archives |
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