Smoltz

When you start a game for the Sox against the Yankees in this rivalry and give up 8 runs in less than 4 innings, you get kicked off the team. Yeah, even John Smoltz.

He has been a great pitcher who had a great career in the national league. He was nasty against the Yankees in 1996, giving up one run in 14 innings pitched and getting out-dueled by Andy Pettitte in a classic 1-0 game 5 in Atlanta. In game 4 of the 1999 series he was out-duelled by Pettitte's good friend Roger Clemens, as the Yankees tagged him for 3 runs in the third, which would be enough to win the game, finish the sweep, and win their second straight championship and third in 4 years.

Anyway, back to Smoltz. Some rock-and-roll guy once said that "it's better to burn out than to fade away". Personally, I think this doesn't make much sense. But if this is truly the end, maybe it's OK that Smoltz's career ended so spectacularly. He can hold his head up high and say that it ended not with a whimper against a bunch of chumps, but against the one of the best teams in the league, and on baseball's biggest stage.