From John Smoltz - one of the best Major League pitchers of the last
25 years, lead baseball analyst of Fox Sports, and all-around stellar
guy - comes Starting and Closing, a powerful memoir illustrating what
he loves about playing baseball, the strength of his faith, and the
changes baseball needs to become great again.
As a seven-year-old kid pitching a ball against a brick wall, John
Smoltz decided to be a professional baseball player when he grew up. And
from that simple decision until his last season on the mound in the
major leagues, it was his faith, work ethic, and love for the game that
propelled him through challenges that would have ruined other athletes.
Starting and Closing chronicles the final season in a legendary career
that included fourteen years in one of the most dominant rotations in
baseball, a Cy Young Award, and a World Series title--all while battling
and overcoming "career-ending" injuries. Recounting a season that tested
his perseverance and deepened his faith, Smoltz flashes back to
watershed moments in the skeptic-defying journey from being one of the
best starting pitchers of all time, to closer, to starter again. What
emerges is an inspirational story from a man who believed not just in
himself but in God's plan for him--and one more year.