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MLB Draft: Top 10 steals of all time

By David Salituro

ANAHEIM, CA - May 25: Albert Pujols #5 of the Los Angeles Angels bats during the game against the Texas Rangers at Angel Stadium on May 25, 2019 in Anaheim, California. The Angels defeated the Rangers 3-2. (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - May 25: Albert Pujols #5 of the Los Angeles Angels bats during the game against the Texas Rangers at Angel Stadium on May 25, 2019 in Anaheim, California. The Angels defeated the Rangers 3-2. (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
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May 04, 2007 – Atlanta, GA, USA – Los Angeles Dodgers against Atlanta Braves JOHN SMOLTZ at Turner Field in Atlanta. The Braves won 4-0. (Photo by Bob Leverone/Sporting News via Getty Images)
May 04, 2007 – Atlanta, GA, USA – Los Angeles Dodgers against Atlanta Braves JOHN SMOLTZ at Turner Field in Atlanta. The Braves won 4-0. (Photo by Bob Leverone/Sporting News via Getty Images) /

4. John Smoltz

Locked in a race for the AL East title in 1987, the Detroit Tigers decided they needed help in their rotation. The pitcher they focused on was Doyle Alexander, acquiring him in a trade with the Atlanta Braves in August. Alexander didn’t disappoint, going 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA with the Tigers to help them win the division. Alexander pitched another two years for the Tigers before retiring.

The pitcher they gave up in that trade was a 20-year-old named John Smoltz. A Detroit native, the Tigers had drafted him two years earlier in the 22nd round with the 574th overall pick out of a Michigan high school. But he would never play a game with the Tigers. Instead, he went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Braves.

Smoltz debuted for the Braves in 1988 and was part of a staff that went from last place in 1990 to National League champions in 1991. Smoltz pitched 7.1 shutout innings in Game 7 of the World Series that year as the Braves lost in extra innings to the Minnesota Twins. Forming a formidable trio with fellow future Hall of Famers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, Smoltz and the Braves would go on to win the division 14 of the next 15 years, including 11 in a row between 1995 and 2005. Smoltz went 129-84 between 1991 and 1999 with a 3.26 ERA, winning the Cy Young Award in 1996 with a league-leading 24 wins.

Even when Tommy John surgery forced him to miss the 2000 season, Smoltz came back to be the best closer in baseball, leading the league with 55 saves in 2002. As good as he was in the regular season, though, he was even better in the playoffs. Smoltz made 27 postseason starts with the Braves, going 15-4 with a 2.67 ERA. His 15 wins rank second all-time, while his 199 postseason strikeouts are the most in history.

Smoltz retired in 2009 after short stays in Boston and St. Louis with 213 career wins. He joined Glavine and Maddux in the Hall of Fame in 2015.

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