Smoltz knows Astros scandal won’t fade soon

Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz received a sponsor’s exemption to play in a seniors golf event this week in Tucson, and promoting that tournament is the reason why he was available for phone interview with reporters.

But he knew non-golf questions were coming, just as he knew what he and other commentators were going to talk about on the MLB Network later that same day: the Astros cheating scandal.

“I’ve been here the last eight days at the network,” he said, “and I’ve never talked about one subject so much.”

Those involved in baseball have kept the story at

the front of the news cycle. The Astros bungled their apology. Commissioner Rob Manfred stepped all over himself when discussing it in interviews and press conferences. But what’s really been stunning is the criticism of Astros management and players from other players.

It’s happened almost daily for more than a week. Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers. Mike Trout of the Angels. Aaron Judge of the Yankees. And on and on.

I can’t remember an incident prompting nearly this much player-onplayer criticism, no matter the sport.

Like many involved in the game, Smoltz would like to see baseball move on from the scandal soon. And like many involved in the game, he’s pessimistic that will happen.

“You just don’t want subjects like this to carry on longer than they should,” he said. “I said this about steroids 15 years ago and we’re still talking about it to some degree. That shouldn’t be.”

It’s a story that appears to have no end in sight, partly because many think Manfred went light on the Astros. I think he did, too.

But Smoltz thinks players and others in baseball should consider at least two points before they assume they occupy a higher moral ground.

“You better be sure your team is innocent,” he said. “And there are no guarantees that any of these players complaining, if there were presented the same situation, would approach it any differently than what the Astros did.

“It isn’t a question of whether they cheated or not. Everyone knows that’s the case. It’s just that how do you move forward and handle it. That’s been the biggest problem. They haven’t handled it very well, and that’s unfortunate.”

Two of Smoltz’s biggest passions are baseball and golf, but the sports are worlds apart in how they handle rules violations.

Golfers are supposed to have honor and turn themselves in when they violate a rule.

In baseball, flirting with the rules is viewed as gamesmanship. And sometimes, each flirtation moves the line of what’s acceptable.

Golfer Patrick Reed continues to take heat after taking a two-stroke penalty for improving his lie in a bunker during a tournament last year. But that criticism, Smoltz said, is nothing compared to what the Astros will face this season.

“This will be five times worse,” Smoltz said. “There’s going to be a lot of noise on the road. It’s going to sound like a football game at times. It’s going to be very interesting to see it play out.

“It’s amazing the society we live in is controlled by what everyone thinks you should have done or said, and no one is going to be happy with the result, unless you can get out in front of something and own it. Just say, ‘Sorry, never going to happen again.’ There are ways to diffuse things with humility and I just think they (the Astros) got behind the 8-ball.”

This is the second consecutive year Smoltz will play in the Cologuard Classic on the PGA Champions Tour at the Omni Tucson National’s Catalina Course. Last year was his first trip to Tucson, but Smoltz is no stranger to Arizona.

His parents live in Leisure World in Mesa, and they used to live near Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale.

“My mom always accused me of coming to see them so much because I was actually going to play Whisper Rock,” he said.

Smoltz didn’t start golfing until he made it to the major leagues with the Braves, and it immediately became a passion. Later in his career he joked, sort of, with teammates that he was going to try to the Senior Tour when he turned 50.

He’s 52 now and is dabbling at an attempt. In 2018, he qualified for the U.S. Senior Open. And this will be the second consecutive year in which he’s played in a handful of tournaments via sponsor exemptions.

But he has a two-year responsibility to his broadcasting jobs, and he isn’t sure he could play competitively even if he devoted himself fully to golf.

“These guys are so good, it’s unreal,” he said. “I’m a fanatic of the game, and I understand this (his broadcast) schedule is not a great, perfect lifestyle to play this game.”