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Starting And Closing (2000)

by John Smoltz(Favorite Author)

3.61 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0062120549 (ISBN13: 9780062120540)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

review 1: In the years I covered the Braves, two things would be certain in an interview with John Smoltz after a game he pitched: a little whining and a lot of explanation. This book is a little like that. There's some "if only this, then this," but a lot of thought-out reasoning for why things happened the way they did. I've always like Smoltz, admired him being openly Christian and liked his doggedness. While the book purports to be about his final up and down season with Boston and St. Louis, it's more about his career as a whole, though not necessarily chronologically. There are good anecdotes about his career with the Braves and breakdowns of how he dealt with (lots of) adversity throughout his career. A good read for a Braves fan and a Smoltz fan.
review 2: Mostly... more Smoltz' view of his final years in baseball. Interesting and semi-entertaining although he seems be using this as a bit of a defense in some areas. John Smoltz was a hall-of-fame calibre pitcher and a top-drawer man of faith off the field, so that alone makes the book an interesting read. I would've liked to read more of his relationship with next=door neighbor and friend Jeff Foxworthy... there HAD to be some cool practical jokes in that neighborhood!I felt that the book could have been a little better but I'll always be a Smoltz fan and look forward to his induction into Cooperstown. less

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